East Timor: UNHCR reports biggest return to Oecussi since July
31 October -- A group of East Timorese refugees has gone back to East Timor's Oecussi enclave in the biggest single-day return since July, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced today.
Briefing reporters at the UN's Geneva Headquarters, spokesman Kris Janowski said a group of 121 East Timorese refugees spontaneously returned to East Timor's Oecussi enclave on Monday from Indonesian-controlled West Timor.
Since 6 September, when aid workers withdrew from West Timor following the murders of three UNHCR staff members, more than 1,000 refugees have returned on their own - nearly 800 during the month of October, UNHCR said.
According to the arrivals, militia gangs continue to control West Timor refugee sites, preventing departures and threatening those who leave, the spokesman said, adding that militiamen have also ordered refugees to return to their huts from nearby fields by 2 p.m., in order to confine them to the camps until the next day to prevent escape.
"The camps are well-patrolled and militiamen monitor all movements," Mr. Janowski said. "The Indonesian military is present in some camps during part of the day, allowing some refugees to repatriate."
UNHCR has expanded its transit centres along the East Timor border to handle more returnees, but the number of refugee arrivals remains small because of continued intimidation by militias in West Timor, the agency said. "
