11 November A senior United Nations official today met with the leader of the Indonesian armed forces to discuss the militia's ongoing harassment of relief workers helping to repatriate people from West Timor.
In a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, Ross Mountain, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for East Timor, received assurances from Admiral Widodo that action would be taken to ensure that militia did not hinder the return of refugees.
Meanwhile, Ian Martin, the Acting Special Representative, was again today in Ambeno to finalize the return plan for that East Timor enclave in West Timor. According to Indonesian authorities, there are 44,000 people on the west side of the enclave border waiting to enter. Up to 6,000 are expected to cross over tomorrow, with the rest following in the next few days.
Yesterday, in a surprise move, Indonesian military trucks transported nearly 1,000 refugees to the border of Ambeno. Although the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was not informed of the movement, agency staff were able to arrange transport for vulnerable people, including the sick and the elderly, on the other side.
The UN refugee agency said today that it was expanding its land and sea routes for East Timorese returnees from West Timor. Despite continued harassment by militiamen, the agency opened a second land corridor, from Haekesak to the East Timor town of Maliana, and had plans to open a third land road to Suai.
With the opening of the land routes, more people are getting on trucks instead of boats from the West Timor port of Atapupu, UNHCR said. Only one repatriation ferry, instead of two, has been operating since Wednesday. The agency said it now plans to open a third port, in Wini, to transport refugees to Liquicia.
In other developments, four private radio stations in West Timor began broadcasting information about UNHCR's repatriation programme. Newspapers have also been reporting the agency's efforts to help those wishing to return. Leaflets outlining return procedures and conditions in East Timor were distributed at Noelbaki camp, where UNHCR has been having difficulty starting a return programme because of the presence of militiamen opposed to repatriation.
