_WORLD WATCH______________________________
_________________East Timor________________

Deaths continue among refugees
Disease and hunger are now main dangers

Among the 130,000 East Timor refugees still in West Timor, as many as five deaths a day are registered, according to voluntary medical aid worker Winston Neil. “Many are children under five and they die of intestinal diseases, malaria, and undernourishment,” said Neil. The main causes are lack of shelter, sanitation, and fresh water.

Most of the East Timorese refugees are anxious to return home, he said. Many are farmers who dream of going back to cultivate their land, but they are subject to harassment by Indonesian supporters. Pro-Indonesia militia still obstruct efforts to solve the refugee problem: programs of repatriation, resettlement, registration, and reconciliation proceed very slowly. In the camps, theft and disguised prostitution are rampant. A medical team from the Yogyakarta-based Protestant Bethesda Hospital verified a significant spread of sex-related diseases among the refugees. 

The pro-Indonesia militia campaigns against the United Nations and the National Council of East Timor, with the support of the local Kupang media. People who decide to return to East Timor are branded as “traitors of the state and thereby their blood is licit,” Neil said. Some try to return in secret. It is said that the Indonesian army and East Timor military have helped about 1,500 to repatriate, mostly former military members.

Since the attack on the UNHCR base at Atambua, West Timor, last year, the UN has not resumed its humanitarian aid work. Indonesian social minister General Bambang Yudoyono assigned the job to a special Satgas task force. Estimates of the total number of remaining refugees vary, but they are thought to number about 130,000.