UN refugee body wants rapid access to East Timorese

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)