4 November Militias opposing repatriation of East Timorese refugees stepped up their intimidation today along border areas between East and West Timor, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Staff with UNHCR fear the situation will deteriorate further unless Indonesian officials step in to control militia activity.
In two incidents today, militia gunmen opened fire in the air before a departing convoy of refugees and in front of the UNHCR office in the West Timor border town of Atambua. The gunmen were apparently trying to disrupt the agency's repatriation programme to East Timor.
This morning, gunmen jumped off a jeep as a convoy of seven trucks carrying 200 returnees set out from Lakafehan camp on the outskirts of Atambua and fired their guns. Police escorting the convoy intervened but made no effort to arrest the gunmen.
In another incident this afternoon, seven plainclothes men at a soccer field across the UNHCR office fired 30 rounds with their automatic rifles for 90 minutes. No injuries were reported in the two incidents. The convoy proceeded to Atapupu, 25 kilometers north of Atambua, and joined two ferries that transported about 1,000 refugees to Dili in East Timor.
Since the return programme by boat started in Atapupu on 28 October, over 5,200 refugees have returned to Dili. UNHCR staff have gone into 20 refugee sites in the Atambua area along the border with East Timor, arranging transport to the Atapupu port for people who wish to go back. This has caused tension and anger among the militia groups operating in West Timor.
Despite the incidents, UNHCR said its staff would continue efforts to repatriate those who wanted to go back before the rainy season.
In a related development, UNHCR reported today that many of the estimated 44,000 refugees outside the East Timor enclave of Ambeno would probably return once the Indonesian army opened the border. Ambeno is an East Timor enclave in northern West Timor.
Discussions between representatives of the Indonesian military and the international force known as INTERFET on who will take responsibility for security in the no man's land are continuing and some progress has been reported.
Meanwhile UN experts on human rights abuses are arriving in East Timor for a first-hand look at the aftermath of the violence that erupted in the territory after the recent vote for independence.
Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitray Executions, arrived in Dili today and met with the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary General, Ian Martin. The Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Radhika Coomaraswamy, and Nigel Rodley, Special Rapporteur on Torture, are expected in Dili on 6 November. All three experts will have a series of private or group meetings with key Timorese leaders and representatives of the international community in East Timor. They will also interview victims and witnesses of the recent events in East Timor.
