UNHCR concerned by RI aid ultimatum

UNHCR concerned by RI aid ultimatum

GENEVA (AP) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Friday criticized Indonesian plans to cut off aid later this month to 100,000 East Timorese remaining in West Timor unless they decide whether or not to return home.

The agency told Indonesia that "the March 31 deadline may force people to take a decision which they are not prepared to take yet or which they cannot take freely," spokesman Ron Redmond said.

Indonesia this week assured UNHCR that it will enforce the deadline flexibly and promised to do more to rein in the militias, he added.

East Timorese fled over the border last year to escape the violence following the Aug. 30 ballot.

Some 150,000 people have since returned to East Timor.

UN officials say many others are put off by fears of a lack of security and food.

About 100,000 people currently remain in camps in Indonesian West Timor.

The Indonesian government has said that it would impose a deadline in which the refugees would have to choose whether they would stay in Indonesian and become Indonesians or return to East Timor and forfeit their citizenship.

"We believe approximately half that number would go back eventually to East Timor," Redmond said. "The other half would eventually be resettled elsewhere in Indonesia."