Two Timorese seek asylum at Australian embassy

Two Timorese seek asylum at Australian embassy

JAKARTA (JP): Two East Timorese women entered the Australian
embassy in Jakarta yesterday and asked for political asylum.

The Australian government was studying the demands last night.

"Yes, there were two East Timorese women in the embassy and
they were asking for asylum," John Milne, the embassy's spokesman
told The Jakarta Post by phone.

The Australian government has not decided whether their demand
would be met or not.

"We're still talking about the matter," Milne said.

The pair entered the embassy about lunch time, he said.

He declined to give further details.

Quoting East Timorese sources, Reuters identified the two
women as 23-year old Maria Sarmento and 25-year old Odilia
Victor, both residents of Dili. The two are members of the
underground Council for National Maubere Resistance, or CNRM, and
were present at the Nov. 12 1991 demonstration which turned into
a riot and left at least 50 protesters dead.

The Director of Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ghaffar Fadyl was not available for comment on the asylum
request. His staff said he was in Cairo.

Although Australia has recognized Indonesia's sovereignty in
East Timor, it irritated its neighbor last year when it agreed to
take in a number of East Timorese asylum seekers.

This is the first time that such an embassy break-in was all-
female.

Five East Timorese apparently abandoned a bid to enter the
Bulgarian embassy last week after being told the ambassador was
not available to see them, a source at the embassy told Reuters.

Last year, the British, French, Japanese and Dutch embassies
were targets of a wave of East Timorese young men seeking asylum.

None were granted by the governments of the embassies in
question, but they all eventually won a passage to Portugal, the
former ruler of East Timor.

In all the cases, the Indonesian government denied their
claims that they were being persecuted or that they were wanted
by the law. The government also stressed that they were free to
leave whenever they wanted.

The latest embassy break-in comes less than a week before
Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers resume their dialog
in London to determine the future of East Timor. The meeting is
being held under the auspices of United Nations Secretary General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali. (01)