Xanana appeals to refugees to return to East Timor

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

Visiting East Timor leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao received a heroes welcome on Wednesday from more than 1,000 East Timorese refugees in a meeting held at a gymnasium in Oepai in the city.

While applauding enthusiastically, the refugees who began gathering in the sports hall several hours earlier, rose from their seats to pay their respects to the smiling East Timor leader, who many believe will become president, as he entered.

Many refugees shook hands with Xanana and many others came to the front row to reach him, seemingly forgetting the terror that drove them from their homeland and caused them to take refuge in Indonesia.

Xanana, who appeared impressed with the warm greeting from his people, displayed his charming smile, while raising his hands to his audience.

His presence broke the ice in the tense hall as all the refugees, including journalists and local guests, were strictly required to undergo thorough security checks by the police before entering the gym.

Xanana, who was accompanied by Maj. Gen. Willem T. da Costa, chief of the Udayana Military Command overseeing East Nusa Tenggara, called on the refugees to go back to East Timor because of the relatively safe situation in the territory.

Refugees were told not to believe the gossip or be frightened to return because East Timor, which will officially become independent in May 2002, is now safe, and there are proper laws to ensure it.

"No refugees who have returned home are being terrorized or punished. You should not believe the torture rumors spreading in your camps. The rumors have been maliciously circulated by certain groups to prevent refugees from going back home," Xanana asserted.

He added that all East Timorese groups are obligated to avoid taking revenge over past problems, and to work together to build the nation and promote reconciliation.

"All regencies and subdistricts in East Timor now have their own reconciliation commission," he said.

Xanana, who was imprisoned in Jakarta in 1989 for his independence fight in East Timor, asserted that his presence in Kupang was in his personal capacity as an East Timorese citizen, not as a conqueror.

"I came here to encourage all of you not because we have won the past war but because we are East Timorese brothers and sisters," he said.

He told the refugees that in his visits to villages in East Timor he had frequently been asked: "When will our relatives come back home?"

"And this question has continually pressed me to bring you back home," he told the group.

Xanana's audience was a part of more than 140,000 people who were forced to flee to the province following the August 1999 ballot and the violence thereafter. Approximately 180,000 others since returned.

Concerning the vote in 1999, Xanana said it was everyone's right to vote either for autonomy or against it, and the political differences had to be respected.

"But, the difference of political opinions should not necessarily result in a division of the people," he said, adding that all East Timorese people now have a right to enjoy their independence.

Xanana regretted the post-ballot mayhem in Dili that claimed thousands of lives and destroyed nearly 75% of houses and structures, and stated his desire to have East Timor free of all armed forces in the future, much like Costa Rica.

"We likely will not need armed forces because we do not want East Timor to continue waging war. We want East Timorese people to promote and create a permanent peace," he said, "We should also maintain good ties with neighboring countries, especially Indonesia and Australia to help maintain a regional stability."

The refugees appreciated Xanana's statement, saying they would all go back home some time in the near future.

"We will certainly go back home if Xanana and other East Timor leaders are ready to treat us as brothers," Joao de Araujo, a former informal leader in Balibo, East Timor, said.

Abraham Soares Sarmento, an former leader of the East Timor pro-Jakarta militia, said all East Timorese leaders, both in East Timor and exile, should make a true reconciliation as a pre- condition for their return.

"It is impossible for us to go back home without reconciliation," he said after the meeting.

One former militia member, after hearing Xanana, expressed regret at being involved in the violence.

"I felt I had been used. We curse the political elite who used us as their tools," said Abilio Dedeus.

Xanana, along with his wife and their child, was scheduled to leave for Dili on Thursday morning after a three-day visit to the province.