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DATE=4/28/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=UNHCR / TIMOR (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261802
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-
C-R, has welcomed a decision by Indonesian 
authorities to remove East Timorese soldiers 
loyal to the government from refugee camps in 
West Timor.  Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports the 
refugee agency says it believes this will 
encourage refugees to return to the homes they 
abandoned last year in East Timor.
TEXT:  United Nations refugee spokesman Ron 
Redmond says Indonesian officials are urging East 
Timorese enlisted in the Indonesian army to join 
the government's domestic resettlement program or 
resign their commission.  He calls this a 
positive move - and says it comes at a time when 
the number of returnees from West to East Timor 
has dropped sharply.
Mr. Redmond says the government has distributed 
forms in the camps for an estimated two-thousand
East Timorese military men to sign.  He says the 
men are being asked if they want to leave the 
refugee camps in West Timor and be resettled to 
other parts of Indonesia.  He says if the men 
choose to stay in West Timor, they must resign 
from the army.
            /// REDMOND ACT ///
      U-N-H-C-R has been urging the Indonesian 
      government to separate East Timorese 
      military people and former militia members 
      in the camps to eliminate the intimidation 
      and to accelerate the return process to 
      East Timor.  We believe that about 50-
      thousand of the remaining 100-thousand 
      refugees remaining in West Timor would 
      return to East Timor if they were free of 
      intimidation. 
            /// END ACT ///
Mr. Redmond says security and access in the camps 
have improved.  But he says pro-Indonesian people 
remain in control and are opposing repatriation 
through misinformation and direct intimidation.
Since October, more than 160-thousand East 
Timorese refugees have returned home.  Mr. 
Redmond says in recent weeks the returns have 
dropped to a trickle.  He says only 50 East 
Timorese joined a repatriation convoy Friday from 
the border town of Atambua. If the military 
members are finally removed from the refugee 
camps, he says he expects the number of returnees 
to go up dramatically. (Signed)
NEB/LS/GE 
28-Apr-2000 10:08 AM EDT (28-Apr-2000 1408 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.