Workers need safety to help refugees

The government must uphold the Geneva Convention on victims of armed conflict by guaranteeing the safety of humanitarian workers, enabling them to help hundreds of thousands of refugees in East Timor, says sociologist and secretary-general of the official National Commission on Violence Against Women Kamala Chandrakirana in an interview with The Jakarta Post.

Question: What is the latest estimate of the number of refugees in East Timor?

Answer: Inside East Timor, we have no way of knowing, but we estimate it is in the hundreds of thousands. I would say that all people who are not militia members should be considered refugees because they are all in hiding. They have left their homes and settlements to seek protection in the hills. There is no access to food, clean water, medical aid or shelter.

The biggest problem is that no humanitarian or social organizations have access to East Timor, and this is partly the consequence of a military state of emergency being declared in East Timor.

Both physical and communication access have been denied.

Outside East Timor, the official estimate was 150,696 displaced persons as of Sept. 15, half in Atambua (on the East Nusa Tenggara side of the border with East Timor).

Q: How secure are the refugees?

A: Many camps are controlled by armed militias. There is a sense of fear, and we have seen no effort to disarm (these militias).

In East Timor, security is still a very big problem. There continues to be a situation of war... Even though people are sheltering close to (armed proindependence group) Falintil, this is no guarantee. They will either die from bullets, machetes or starvation.

The few humanitarian workers based in Atambua and Kupang (East Nusa Tenggara) work under duress and intimidation. The militias and the military, by allowing the militias to roam, are restricting their access to refugees.

Internally displaced people are basically victims of war. In any war, based on the (1949) Geneva Convention, there is a code of conduct and a code of ethics on the treatment of innocent victims; they have the fundamental right to continue living, and in that sense to be given food, safety and shelter.

In Indonesia, this is a situation of war and these rights have not been fulfilled.

Q: The authorities have announced a program to resettle the refugees.

A: They are not transmigrants, moving by choice. They were forced to leave. We are worried that the government's efforts are directed toward transmigration. In Buton Island (Southeast Sulawesi), the local government thought transmigration would resolve the issue of displaced persons from Ambon. If officials had asked the people, they would have found that they were not all farmers. Some were teachers, others were traders.

The idea of applying the concept of transmigration for internally displaced persons, who are victims of violence looking for protection, is totally wrong.

Most refugees don't want to stay outside of East Timor. They just went through the process of voting, and they left because otherwise they would have died.

(Enabling them to return) is our responsibility. The popular consultation was held with the full support of the government, and we have the responsibility to ensure the result of their votes becomes reality. Right now we are doing everything but that.

We respect the efforts of the local government of East Nusa Tenggara (to help the refugees), and they should be given more support by the central government. There is still a big problem in coordinating (relief efforts); this is something new for all of us. We suddenly have more than 150,000 people in fear of roaming armed militias. Locals in East Nusa Tenggara are also scared and wondering why their community is suddenly becoming a place of terror.

Q: Has your commission requested help from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)?

A: The UNHCR has indicated it wants to help, but (in a preliminary visit to East Nusa Tenggara) they were attacked. As they don't have a security guarantee, we cannot expect their people to work there. The ball is in the court of the government and military to allow this to happen. They have to guarantee humanitarian workers access to refugees to begin saving lives.

Q: Would it be better to send food aid by land or air?

A: With air drops, refugees would not feel secure that they would not be killed if they went to pick up the aid.

Q: Why is the National Commission on Violence Against Women taking up the issue of refugees?

A: It is based on our assessment that we should take a position in situations of conflict, such as in Aceh, Ambon and Kalimantan. In armed conflicts we focus on the victims, the majority of whom who are consistently women and children. Those returning from East Timor have confirmed it has been babies who have died first of starvation. It is the dry season now, they have no food; there is also little that is edible in the forests (of East Timor).

While people are debating peacekeeping forces, every single day there is no decision regarding humanitarian workers in East Timor, so many people are dying. Babies, children and pregnant women are among the most vulnerable.

Q: Are you optimistic the arrival of peacekeeping forces will restore peace and order to the territory?

A: We are not optimistic, but it is our only hope.