DATE=12/17/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N / TIMOR REFUGEES (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-257252
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R,
says the flow of East Timorese refugees returning home
from camps in West Timor is increasing. Lisa Schlein
in Geneva reports the latest estimates put the number
of returnees from West Timor and other parts of
Indonesia and Australia at nearly 125-thousand.
TEXT: U-N-H-C-R spokesman Kris Janowski says there
was a sharp drop in daily return figures from West to
East Timor earlier this month.
But he says in recent days, the numbers of people
going back have gone up again to more than one-
thousand a day.
/// JANOWSKI ACT ///
We don't quite know how to explain it. Part of
it may be militias easing their grip on some of
the camps in West Timor gradually. Part of it
may be our mass information programs which are
essentially countering militia propaganda in the
camps in West Timor.
/// END ACT ///
The International Organization for Migration, which is
responsible for transporting the refugees home, says
the rainy season is causing problems.
Spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy says torrential rains
are turning the roads into muddy streams. This, he
says, is creating problems for refugee convoys which
keep getting stuck in the mud.
Mr. Chauzy says the situation in the border areas and
camps in the Atambua region appears to be easing.
However, he says many East Timorese refugees in camps
outside the West Timorese capital, Kupang, appear
reluctant to leave.
/// CHAUZY ACT IN FRENCH - FADE UNDER ///
Mr. Chauzy says many people seem to be having
difficulty leaving or are being held back by militias.
He says aid workers believe many of the refugees may
not want to return to East Timor just yet because
they have planted corn and other vegetables. They say
the refugees may want to remain where they are until
they have had a chance to harvest their crops.
Mr. Chauzy says the refugees also may be reluctant to
return because they have heard that food in East Timor
has become very expensive. And they are afraid they
will not be able to support themselves. (Signed)
NEB/LS/JWH/LTD/KL
17-Dec-1999 11:27 AM EDT (17-Dec-1999 1627 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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