DATE=9/3/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N-H-C-R / EAST TIMOR (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253418
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-
C-R, estimates up to 55-thousand people have been
displaced in East Timor within recent months,
including 30-thousand in the capital, Dili. Lisa
Schlein in Geneva reports the refugee agency says
an additional 12-thousand people have fled to the
Western part of the island.
TEXT: U-N refugee agency spokesman Kris Janowski
says aid workers have not seen any significant
increase in the number of people displaced in
Dili since a U-N sponsored independence
referendum was held Monday.
But he says movement in and out of the capital is
severely restricted. And he says this means no
one knows what is happening in the interior of
East Timor.
/// JANOWSKI ACT ///
We're trying to negotiate with the police,
with the local authorities to be able to
take aid into the interior of the country
which at the moment is virtually impossible
out of Dili. We can, however, distribute
aid in Dili itself itself with an estimated
30-thousand people.
/// END ACT ///
U-N aid workers describe the situation in Dili as
calm, but tense.
Mr. Janowski says many of the homeless people are
temporarily sheltered in churches and schools.
He says aid agencies are providing food, mats,
blankets and kitchen utensils to the homeless.
/// OPT /// The refugee agency has five
officials in Dili. It is planning to send five
more international staff there on Saturday.
/// END OPT ///
Meanwhile, the U-N's top human rights official,
Mary Robinson, is calling for urgent action to
protect civilians in East Timor.
U-N human rights spokesman Jose Dias says Mrs.
Robinson is deeply concerned about the spiraling
violence in the former Portuguese colony.
/// DIAS ACT ///
The High Commissioner, Mrs. Robinson, feels
that there is an urgent need for
international action in East Timor to
restore order and protect the fundamental
human rights of the terrorized population.
The High Commissioner feels a substantial
U-N peacekeeping force might be needed with
cooperation of the Indonesian government,
if possible, to protect Timorese civilians
and U-N staff, given the apparent inability
of Indonesian security forces to control
the situation
/// END ACT ///
The United Nations says anti-independence
militiamen in East Timor have killed at least
four local workers. Another six are missing and
feared dead. (Signed)
NEB/LS/JWH/LTD/KL
03-Sep-1999 09:03 AM EDT (03-Sep-1999 1303 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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