UN starts relief airdops in East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): After days of negotiations with Indonesia, the United Nations made its first airdrops of food on Friday to starving East Timorese refugees hiding in the remote hills in Ermera and Bobonaro.

The UN human rights coordinator for the East Timor crisis, Ross Mountain, said in Darwin, Australia, that the airdrops were carried out only after passing a military inspection at Komoro Airport in Dili.

He said two Australian Hercules C-130 military transports made the flight from the northern Australian city.

The first plane, loaded with 20 pallets of rice and blankets, flew over the town of Ermera, south of Dili, and dropped the humanitarian aid to about 20,000 refugees sheltering in the mountains. The second plane was destined for the town of Bobonaro, Mountain said.

The cargo planes were chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The international aid comprises 300,000 boxes of high energy biscuits and 20,000 blankets. UN officials said the food would only be enough to feed 15,000 people for one day.

The UN also plans airdrops for about 150,000 refugees who have fled to neighboring East Nusa Tenggara. The officials of the world body are working to dispatch humanitarian aid to those refugees by road, Mountain said.

Christian Koch, an official of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the agency would soon send medical and food supplies to Atambua and other refugee centers in East Nusa Tenggara after receiving approval from Indonesia.

But Mountain said there was no immediate prospect of further flights to either area because each flight required specific permission from Jakarta.

"We hope that on the basis of a successful operation today ... that we will be able to move ahead with additional flights in the days ahead," Mountain was quoted by AP as saying.

ICRC spokeswoman Sri Wahyu Endah said in Jakarta that the organization would resume operations on Wednesday. It will employ up to 15 staff members skilled in areas including emergency aid, protection and medical treatment.

She described the situation in hospitals in East Timor as worrisome because most essential medical equipment was gone.

In Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono and UN Development Program (UNDP) resident coordinator Ravi Rajan signed an agreement on Friday to pave the way for direct delivery of humanitarian aid to East Timor and East Nusa Tenggara.

"Those who want to help refugees in East Timor or East Nusa Tenggara are no longer required to get prior approval from Jakarta, but they can directly send it to Dili or Kupang," Haryono said.

Clearance from government officials at the two airports is still required to ensure that the packages only contain humanitarian aid, the minister noted.

UNDP said there were an estimated 50,000 displaced persons in Dare near Dili, 50,000 southeast of Baucau, 50,000 south of Manatuto, 20,000 west of Ermera, and 20,000 southwest of Bobonaro. The number of refugees is more than 170,000.

"The international community looks forward to working jointly and cooperatively with Indonesia in bringing relief and succor to the people in distress in East and West Timor," Rajan said in the statement.

Minister of Social Services Justika Baharsjah said the government would only allow them to stay a maximum of two months at refugee camps in East Nusa Tenggara. They will then have to decide between Indonesian or East Timorese citizenship.

"For those who choose Indonesia, they must agree to be resettled either in East Nusa Tenggara or other provinces," the minister said in Kupang.

East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piter Alexander Tallo warned refugees not to expect too much from him because he would have to prioritize the needs of his own people.

The governor also told militias not to continue their fighting in his province or they would become an unnecessary burden for the country's poorest province.

"If they still want to fight, they can return to East Timor and continue their fighting there and not here," he said.

Minister of Health Farid A. Moeloek said the number of refugees could reach up to 250,000. He said UN agencies like Unicef and WHO would soon send medical teams. The minister said the people would prefer Asian medical personnel to those from the West.

He said health problems, such as diarrhea and malaria, were on the rise in refugee centers due to poor sanitation facilities and malnutrition. As of Friday, nearly 2,000 refugees were found suffering from various diseases, including malaria, diarrhea and respiratory problems.

Meanwhile, Antara reported that East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares provided 10 cars to evacuate his 102 family members and relatives to Nusa Indah Hotel in Atambua. Among the evacuees were legislator Natrecia Osorio Soares and Manatuto regent Vidal Doutel Sarmento.

"Pak governor is still in Jakarta dealing with all related matters on East Timor," the official news agency quoted one of his relative as saying. (27/yac/prb)