NEWS - Refugees Could Be Forcibly R

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Subject: NEWS - Refugees Could Be Forcibly Relocated, Warn Rights Groups

Title: Refugees Could Be Forcibly Relocated, Warn Rights Groups
Date: 23-SEP-1999
Author: Sonny Inbaraj, ETISC
Source: John M. Miller <fbp@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Style: News report
Reference: http://www.etan.org

Tens of thousands of East Timorese pushed out to West Timor by Indonesia
army-backed militias could be "transmigrated" to other parts of
Indonesia within weeks, making it impossible for them to return home,
warn human rights groups.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadao Ogata, in a report published
this week, said there were approximately 100,000 displaced East Timorese
in West Timor and on the islands of Flores and Alor. Some 55,000 East
Timorese, according to the report, are located at a makeshift camp in
Atambua, in West Timor, and 22,000 in West Timor?s capital Kupang.

Indonesian government sources also reported that 20,000 displaced are on
the East Timor side of the border, attempting to flee to the Western
part of the island.

According to aid workers, the refugees are settled in appalling
conditions in several vast camps controlled by the Indonesia
military-backed militias. Pro-independence activists, they said, are
being terrorised by the militias.

"The displaced will undoubtedly be asked (by the Indonesian government)
to choose between staying in appallingly overcrowded camps controlled by
militias or being moved to another island," said the New York-based
Human Rights Watch.

"The Indonesian government is arguing that inadequate facilities in West
Timor for over 200,000 East Timorese makes resettlement to Irian Jaya,
the Moluccas and other islands the only realistic option," added the
human
rights group.

In a statement Sunday, the Minister of Transmigration, Maj General
Hendropriyono announced that all East Timorese in West Timor would be
moved to permanent resettlement sites within two months.

According to Human Rights Watch sources, some 15,000 of the displaced
now in camps in a district along the north coast of West Timor are from
the tiny enclave of Ambeno, formerly Oecusse, a part of East Timor that
is
wholly surrounded by West Timor.

Human Rights Watch said all the rest of the displaced are from Dili and
areas extending to the border with West Timor.

"Pro-Indonesia forces have stated they intend to retain control of these
districts, and forced expulsions appear to have been a means towards
that end."

On Monday pro-Jakarta groups in East Timor, including the armed militias
who burned the capital of Dili, signalled they had not given up the
fight and are regrouping.

The chilling message reached Jakarta by television and through the state
Antara news agency, as the first heavily-armed international troops
landed in relays at Dili?s Comoro airport from Darwin in northern
Australia.

Last Wednesday, the UN Security Council endorsed "all necessary
measures" to halt the orgy of killing and destruction in the former
Portuguese colony by pro-Jakarta and anti independence militias after
the East Timorese people voted for independence in the Aug 30
UN-supervised ballot.

Australia at the request of the United Nations has organised a
8,000-strong peacekeeping force from several countries?dubbed as the
International Force for East Timor or interFET.

The head of the new pro-Jakarta coalition, Domingos Soares, said the
National Struggle Front (FPB) was a union of "the necessary components
to defend integration [with Indonesia]". He said the front rejected the
results of the Aug 30 referendum, in which the East Timorese voted 78
per cent for independence, because the UN mission which organised it had
manipulated the outcome.

Joao Tavares, commander of the 13 militias which caused havoc across
East Timor before the ballot and joined the Indonesian army in the
destructive rampage of the last three weeks, said his forces would not
attack interFET.

"We only want to defend our ground," he said, meaning the western half
of the territory where the militias are threatening to wage a guerrilla
war against the UN forces.

Human Rights Watch quoting relief workers in Kupang said that many,
perhaps most, of the displaced in East Timor have been forcibly expelled
by militias since early September, apparently as a way of depopulating
the
western districts of East Timor.

"Refugees have told church workers that with so many pro-independence
supporters forced out, pro-autonomy forces may be preparing to either
demand that the August 30 referendum organised by the United Nations be
held again, this time with votes counted by district, or to insist that
the western districts of East Timor be incorporated into Indonesia,
thereby partitioning the territory," said Human Rights Watch.

The Washington-based East Timor Action Network called for international
aid organisations to gain immediate access to the refugee camps.

"The return of all refugees to East Timor must be secured. Long term aid
and development programs must begin," said ETAN.

But a church worker who recently returned from West Timor said Kupang
may soon explode into riots because of the mounting tension between
local residents and the pro-Jakarta militias.

Jamie Isbister of the National Council of Churches in Australia said
Tuesday the violence of East Timor could spill into Kupang, where
resentment is growing against abusive behaviour by armed militia groups.

Kupang was the scene of social unrest last November when Christian and
Muslim gangs clashed, sparking an exodus of local residents.

"The militia - Aitarak and Besi Merah Putih - have been built up by the
Indonesian military to believe they are beyond the law and their
actions, in line with that, have continued since they crossed the border
from East
Timor," he said.

"Armed thugs wander around Kupang, drive stolen United Nations vehicles
or ride on the back of Indonesian military trucks.

For more information, contact:

East Timor International Support Center - ETISC
PO Box 651, Nightciff, Darwin NT 0814, Australia
Phone: +61 8  8948 4458 Fax: +61 8  8948 4498
E-mail: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

John M. Miller, Media & Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network
48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
E-mail: etan-outreach@xxxxxxxxxxx
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to timor-info@xxxxxxxxxxx to find out how to
learn more about East Timor on the Internet