DATE=9/22/1999
TYPE=Q&A
TITLE=WEST TIMOR REFUGEES
NUMBER=2-254177
BYLINE=LISA ROSE WEAVER
DATELINE=KUPANG, WEST TIMOR
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: VOA NEWS NOW anchors Paul Westpheling and Kurt
Henschen spoke by telephone to VOA stringer Lisa Rose
Weaver in Kupang, West Timor about the refugee
situation there after so many people fled the violence
in East Timor the past two weeks.
TEXT:
Weaver - As you get closer to the East Timor border
you have a hundred thousand refugees in a town called
Atambua. I took a road trip there yesterday
(Tuesday,9/21). There are thousands of people camped
out in any space they can find including military
compounds and police compounds and then even closer to
the border they are camped out along the sides of
roads. Many of them have just arrived in the last
couple of days. Fortunately they do seem to be
getting enough food and water. They are getting that
through local governments. I haven't seen any
indication of international aid myself but I
understand that aid from UNHCR and other donor
agencies are in the works.
Westpheling - Lisa this may be a difficult question to
ask but I will ask it anyway. How have the refugees
from East Timor, which is a predominantly Christian
part of the island been co-existing with the people of
West Timor which is predominantly Muslim and pro-
Indonesian?
Weaver - Well, the difference between them actually
isn't religious because most people in West Timor are
also predominantly Catholic. There is no ethnic or
religious difference among the people in West and East
Timor but there have been clashes more on the socio-
political front. The crime rate has reportedly soared
in West Timor since the refugees, which include a lot
of militia, have migrated over. It's a complex
picture because many of the militia originally were
recruited in West Timor and then taken over to East
Timor to bolster the pro-Jakarta forces there and now
they are no their way back. One larger question is
about the effort on the part of the pro-Jakarta
militias to clean-out the areas of East Timor that
make money mostly from coffee production. So that an
independent East Timor would have less to work with.
There are a couple of towns which are completely empty
now while both have a history of being pro-
independence and do fairly well on the economic front.
They are empty and there have been problems there for
the past several weeks. One of the two was
completely occupied by the military and the militia.
It is now empty. I have heard of refugees, even high
standing members of the community, now living in the
hills around West Timor. So there is definitely a lot
of displacement.
NEB/PLM
22-Sep-1999 05:09 AM EDT (22-Sep-1999 0909 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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