DATE=9/6/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=TIMOR / EXODUS (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253519
BYLINE=LISA ROSE WEAVER
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In East Timor, militiamen and soldiers of the
Indonesian army are joining together in an effort to drive
thousands of East Timorese from their homeland. The forced
exodus comes a week after East Timorese voted
overwhelmingly to break away from Indonesia. Lisa Rose
Weaver files this report from Jakarta.
TEXT: Violence escalated sharply on Monday in the East
Timores capital, Dili. Several houses, including that of
Nobel Peace Prize-winner Bishop Carlos Bello, were burned.
Some five thousand refugees taking shelter on the grounds
around the bishop's residence were forced out. Most, said
witnesses, were later taken across the border into West
Timor.
They joined thousands from other places of refuge in the
capital who have been removed from East Timor either by
ship or overland in the past two days.
Since the result of East Timor's U-N-supervised referendum
was announced Saturday, marking the first official step
toward independence, some 15 hundred people have fled to
Kupang, the capital of West Timor.
A U-N official was quoted Monday as saying what has been
evident to many witnesses for weeks: That the Indonesian
military is helping the militias to kill and intimidate
people. The latest effort, it appears, is to force a mass
migration.
The precise goal is not immediately clear, but anti-
independence politicians have in the past floated the idea
of creating a partition, or corridor, within East Timor for
those who support remaining a part of Indonesia.
Moving East Timorese toward the border with West Timor or
deeper into the province itself could be a first step in
achieving that goal.
In any case, the militia's forcing East Timorese to move
out would appear to eliminate any possibility of sustaining
an opposition. (Signed)
NEB/LRW/KL
06-Sep-1999 13:43 PM EDT (06-Sep-1999 1743 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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