Xanana appeals to refugees to return to East Timor

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.