Workers need safety to help refugees

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.