Decision day for Timor refugees

Many refugees have said they don't understand the choices being offered to them

KUPANG, Indonesia -- Tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees living in Indonesian controlled West Timor are being asked to decide their future.

They are being asked to register and choose if they want to return to East Timor, under a process administered by the Indonesian authorities, or stay in West Timor.

The refugees were forced to flee East Timor amid widespread violence by pro-Indonesia militias after the territory's landmark independence vote in 1999.

Indonesian officials say about 4,500 police and soldiers will be deployed to safeguard the one-day long registration process.

UN officials have said the registration process is crucial to ending a protracted humanitarian crisis.

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However, many refugees have complained that they do not understand the process, nor have their options been fully explained to them.

Reprisals fear

As a result many have said they plan to boycott the process.

"Many of us have agreed to reject the registration," refugee leader Pius Patti told the Associated Press news agency. "We cannot choose between the options so we will not register."

He added that many refugees have said they fear reprisals if they were to return home.

In the wake of the independence vote some 250,000 refugees fled East Timor as pro-Indonesian mobs went on the rampage.

The majority have since been repatriated, but up to 100,000 are thought to remain in the refugee camps.

Many of the militiamen responsible for the violence are believed to be living among them.

Intimidation

About 250,000 refugees fled the militia violence in 1999

UN officials have accused the paramilitaries of intimidating the remaining refugees and blocking many of them returning home.

Several East Timorese support groups have also raised fears about the validity of the registration process whilst pro-Jakarta militias remain in control of the camps.

They have also criticized the implications of the registration process, saying plans to resettle refugees in West Timor could have destabilizing consequences.

In a letter to the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Richard Gelbard released Tuesday the groups, spearheaded by the U.S.-based East Timor Action Network, warned that resettlement of the refugees, especially near the border, could create "a long-term breeding ground for militia activities."

Such a situation, the groups say, "will threaten the peace and security of both East and West Timor for years to come".

East Timorese are due to vote on August 30 for a new representative assembly, which will then have 90 days to draft and approve a constitution before the territory formally achieves independence.

About 400,000 Timorese are thought to have the right to vote in the poll, with the final deadline for voter registration later this month.