UN officials hope E. Timor refugees will return home

UN officials hope E. Timor refugees will return home

DILI, East Timor (Agencies): A senior UN official said on
Tuesday he was hopeful thousands of East Timorese refugees still
living in the Indonesian province of West Timor will soon return
home.

Nagalingam Parameswaran, the UN chief of staff in East Timor,
said a three-day tour of four camps last week had been successful
in addressing the fears of many about personal safety in East
Timor.

The visit, organized by the regional Indonesian military
commander, was the first time UN staffers had spoken directly to
refugees since last September, when international officials were
withdrawn after a pro-Indonesian mob murdered three foreign aid
workers.

The delegation, which included representatives from the UN
refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for
Migration (IOM) and UN peacekeepers, distributed thousands of
posters, brochures and videos describing conditions in East Timor
to the refugees.

They also met with the bishops of Kupang and Atambua, and
anti-independence leaders, Biro said, describing the trip as
"very successful."

"It was a great opportunity," Parameswaran said. "We will
continue to pursue initiatives for reconciliation and return."

Following an overwhelming vote for independence from Indonesia
in 1999, pro-Jakarta militias forced some 250,000 East Timorese
to flee across the border to neighboring West Timor.

The majority have since returned. But humanitarian agencies
estimate that at least 50,000 still live in camps throughout the
Indonesian province.

Many of those have links with the former Indonesian regime in
East Timor or were members of pro-Indonesian militia gangs which
rampaged through the territory before and after the independence
ballot.

Although refugee leaders have said most people want to be
repatriated, many fear they will face reprisals if they go home.

According to Parameswaran, UN staff were well-received during
the visit.

He said UN officials believe East Timorese refugees they met
during the visit last week were instructed to challenge the
results of the 1999 independence ballot.

The charge was contained in a transcript of a press briefing
given in the East Timor capital Dili, by the UNTAET chief of
staff and delegation leader Parameswaran, which was received by
AFP.

Parameswaran said that in each of the camps several refugees
challenged the outcome of the ballot, which voted overwhelmingly
for East Timor's independence from Indonesia, in what appeared to
be a coordinated manner.

"There were...indications that some of the refugees had been
instructed to ask questions of a political nature, and question
the result of the popular consultation," Parameswaran was quoted
as saying.

UN officials in East Timor have repeatedly complained that
anti-independence militia, which virtually control the camps,
have been spreading misinformation about conditions in East Timor
to discourage refugees from returning.

UNTAET spokesman Peter Biro said refugees argued with the
delegation. "Their questions seemed to be the same type and there
was a feeling they were being orchestrated, that some groups
might have sent some people to turn it into something political,"
he told AFP by phone from Dili.

Estimates of the number of refugees in West Timor range from
50,000 to 100,000. A comprehensive count has never been
undertaken.

Parameswaran said that refugees keen to go home were most
worried about their security. "The main concern of the refugees
who want to return is their personal security, and we were able
to assure them that East Timor is stable and safe," the chief of
staff said.