UN refugee body wants rapid access to East Timorese

JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is awaiting approval from the Indonesian government and military to resume its work assisting East Timorese refugees, the commissioner's director said.

The director of the UNHCR Asia-Pacific bureau, Francois Fouinat, met on Thursday with Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas to convey this request.

"We requested that as soon as possible we would be given the possibility to provide assistance to people... starting first in Dili and hopefully going beyond that as the security situation improves," Fouinat said, adding that Alatas promised the cooperation of the Indonesian government.

UNHCR, in cooperation with other international aid organizations, began assisting East Timorese refugees a few months before the Aug. 30 ballot.

Fouinat said there was "a very serious humanitarian problem" in East Timor "as many people had fled in a very precarious situation with a lack of basic necessities". He said it was imperative for UNHCR to resume its mission as soon as possible.

"UNHCR is still present in Dili today, having three international staff in the UNAMET compound. They occasionally go out to collect people who are in need of assistance," he said. UNAMET is the acronym for the United Nations Mission in East Timor.

However, due to limited contact, he said the organization does not even have data on the number of people in need. The UNAMET compound has also been the target of attack by militias.

Fouinat said Alatas "had given encouraging assurances".

Alatas earlier pointed to the hope that law and order would be restored in East Timor under the newly installed commander of the Security Restoration Operation Command in East Timor, Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri. The command is tasked with restoring security and reinstating public services in the territory.

UNHCR regional representative Renee van Rooyen said food and other basic necessities would be sent to East Nusa Tenggara, but did not say when.

Van Rooyen said the security situation in East Timor's neighboring province was "totally unpredictable". He said UNHCR staff were mistaken for UNAMET officials and met with a hostile reception from refugees, who included prointegration supporters.

In a brief visit to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Tuesday, Fouinat said he and two staff members were attacked and their car stoned and torched.

Revenge

Antara news agency reported from Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, on Thursday that refugees there were beginning to overwhelm the 12,000 local residents.

The impact of the influx of refugees is beginning to be felt, Beli regency military commander Lt. Col. Sigit said, adding that proindependence and prointegration supporters were among the refugees.

"Refugees have brought with them years of revenge, so we continue to ask that they do not fight here," Sigit said.

Belu Police chief Lt. Col. M. Natsir Achmad said prointegration militia continued to harass and threaten proindependence supporters in Atambua and other areas of East Nusa Tenggara. "Another impact is that shop supplies are quickly drying up here," Natsir said.

Fever and diarrhea are also beginning to affect children, and there are only enough mats and blankets from the Indonesian Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross for 5,000 refugees.

The head of the local office of the Ministry of Social Services, Damra Kopagoka, said medicine and food supplies were urgently needed by the end of next week. Water is also lacking, with Antara reporting that some 200 families sheltering in Haliwen stadium in Atambua only have access to water from one small tank.

"We are short of water. But what's most important is that our wives and children are safe," one of the refugees, Anton da Costa, said. He said he was the commander of the Blood of Integration militia in East Timor's Ermera regency.

Separately in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, the Medical Doctors of Asia said it would send 10 specialists to Atambua.

Coordinator Idrus Paturusi said the team would bring medical supplies worth Rp 100 million and stay for two weeks.

On Wednesday Air Force regional commander Rear Marshall Ian Santoso in Ujungpandang had said the Air Force had among others evacuated 1,898 from Baucau and Dili and were still evacuating some 1,200 more.

Megawati

From Kupang, Antara reported on Thursday that Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri visited refugees in the village of Noelbaki, 12 kilometers east of Kupang. Some 7,000 people are sheltering there.

Accompanied by East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo, a clearly moved Megawati was greeted by thousands of refugees who scrambled to shake her hand.

Some refugees said they hoped to return to East Timor, while others said they would resettle outside the territory.

A number of refugees also said they were still waiting for missing relatives. In Surakarta, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono said settlements would also be provided, mainly in East Timor. Supplies for refugees were enough for two weeks, he said.

"Please stay in Kupang for a while, brothers and sisters," Megawati said. "Let us shoulder this suffering together."

The head of the East Nusa Tenggara office of the Ministry of Social Services, Bambang Subroto, said he proposed Rp 40 billion be allocated to assist an expected 100,000 refugees.

AFP quoted an Australian-based East Timorese proindependence activist as saying that some 100,000 East Timorese had fled to the hills in the territory, with food and water rapidly running out. (emf/27/yac/edt/anr/44)