Indonesia to relocate E. Timor refugees

Preliminary results reveal less than 1.5 percent voters want to go back to East Timor

By staff and wire reports

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia will resettle most of its refugees from East Timor on other islands after a majority of them elected to remain in Indonesia, an official said.

Indonesia last week registered more than 100,000 refugees in squalid camps in West Timor, where they were herded in 1999 after the eastern half of the impoverished island voted to end 23 years of the Indonesian rule.

The registration revealed that an overwhelming number of the refugees wanted to remain under Jakarta rule rather than return to their homeland.

Organizers said out of the 115,000 votes counted so far, less than 1,500 people had chosen to return to East Timor, which is under the administration of the United Nations.

Final results of the count would be announced next week, the organizers said.

East Timorese independence leader Jose Alexandre “Xanana” Gusmao welcomed the results of the registration.

“We now expect the Indonesian government to remain committed to resettling the refugees in their chosen places, which should be better than the refugee camps,” he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

He also said he would always welcome any returning refugees. “We’ll remain open for anyone willing to return to their homes (in East Timor). We will accept them and not cause them any trouble.”

U.N. officials have accused the militias of terrorizing refugees into choosing to stay in Indonesia and say that the vast majority would prefer to return home.

The refugees, who live largely under the control of the pro-Jakarta militias, were asked if they wanted to stay or return to East Timor, which the Indonesian military backed gangs razed after the 1999 poll.

Adding sorrows

An official in the West Timor city of Kupang, about 2,000 km (1,250 miles) east of Jakarta, told Reuters that organizers had explained to refugees before the registration that they might be resettled in other parts of the country if they opted to stay in Indonesia.

"The ability to settle them in here (West Timor) is very limited. It will only add to their sorrows," registration spokesman Usman Abubakar said.

The Jakarta Post daily quoted the regional governor as saying his province could only accommodate an eighth of the refugees who wanted to stay.

"They have chosen to remain in Indonesia, therefore they should be prepared to be resettled anywhere in the country," said Piet Tallo, governor of East Nusa Tenggara province, which includes West Timor.

But there was no word on when the refugees would be resettled or where they would go.

On Monday, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said the refugees who did not participate in the registration would be automatically considered as Indonesian citizens.

He promised that they would not be forced to leave Indonesia.

Officials say there were more than 260,000 East Timorese refugees, or 48,000 families, registered prior to the poll last week.

Normal lives

The world's fourth most populous country already has more than one million refugees in areas torn by social upheaval and separatist insurgencies in recent years.

"We are still working hard to decide where should these refugees go," said Abubakar.

An Indonesian Red Cross official in West Timor told Reuters that most of the refugees simply wanted a place where they could normal lives.

"Some of them have their own plans to go to surrounding islands. They don't mind as long as they can be prosperous. That's their prime target," Martin Lulujitu said.

However, according to Kor Sakeng of the Volunteers' Team for Humanity - Flores, many refugees want to stay in West Timor, which shares land borders with East Timor.

Reuters contributed to this report.