UN refugee agency welcomes Indonesia's "resettle or resign"
message to soldiers in West Timor
28 April -- In a development hailed by the United Nations refugee agency, Indonesia has urged East Timorese soldiers in refugee camps in West Timor to join the government's resettlement programme or resign from the Indonesian army and return to East Timor.
Calling Indonesia's decision "a positive move," a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a press briefing today in Geneva that about 50,000 of the refugees remaining in West Timor would return to East Timor if they were free from the anti-repatriation tactics used by the soldiers.
"UNHCR has been urging the Indonesian government to separate East Timorese [soldiers] and former militias in the camps to eliminate intimidation and accelerate returns," spokesman Ron Redmond said, adding that Indonesia's decision came at a time when the number of returnees from West to East Timor had dropped sharply in recent weeks. Only 50 East Timorese joined a repatriation convoy from the border town of Atambua today..
According to the spokesman, small groups of East Timorese soldiers have been demobilized in the past and have chosen to return to East Timor, but this is the first time that they are being asked to make a decision on their long-term future.
To date, the government has distributed forms in the largest of the camps in West Timor to an estimated 2,000 military men. There are more than 100,000 East Timorese in West Timor's 200 refugee settlements.
