UN agency resumes work in West Timor

UN agency resumes work in West Timor

GENEVA (Agencies): The United Nations High Commission for
Refugees has resumed operations in West Timor after a six-day
suspension that followed an attack on three of its workers by
militia members.

The agency took its decision after Indonesian officials
promised a thorough investigation and said two of the men
involved in last week's attack had been arrested and will be
charged in court.

"We were assured that measures will be taken to ensure the
safety and security of aid workers in West Timor," spokesman Kris
Janowski said adding that "UNHCR is satisfied with the way the
Indonesian authorities have dealt with this regrettable
incident".

But "a just and lasting solution to the refugee problem"
depends on troublemakers being separated from other refugees, and
law and order being imposed in West Timor's sprawling refugee
camps, he added.

Three UNHCR workers were badly injured in the attack with
machetes, clubs and stones last week.

UNHCR suspended its operations, complaining that the
Indonesian military was doing nothing to stop militia gangs from
staging attacks or from setting up roadblocks to prevent refugees
returning from Indonesian West Timor to their homes in East
Timor.

The Geneva-based agency is providing supplies to an estimated
125,000 East Timorese who remain in West Timor refugee camps.

Nearly 170,000 have gone home since last year.