[Timor excerpt]

JRS DISPATCHES

No. 133 ­ May 30, 2003 Twice monthly news bulletin from the Jesuit Refugee Service International Office

SOME ITEMS IN THIS ISSUE REFUGEE NEWS BRIEFINGS

7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN BELU, WEST TIMOR, OFFERS ONLY TEMPORARY SOLUTION FOR FORMER EAST TIMOR REFUGEES

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12. JRS INDONESIA CELEBRATES BOOK RE-LAUNCH: EAST TIMOR CELEBRATES ONE YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE FROM INDONESIA

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REFUGEE NEWS BRIEFINGS

7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN BELU, WEST TIMOR, OFFERS ONLY TEMPORARY SOLUTION FOR FORMER EAST TIMOR REFUGEES

The local government in Belu district, West Timor, is planning to move former East Timorese refugees from a camp in Wemer/ Keteri district, which has been their temporary home for the last number of years. JRS Belu is advocating for the former refugees, assisting them to find sustainable solutions for their future. The government plans to borrow confiscated land in Kimbana for new temporary accommodation for the former refugees. The government is now asking the former refugees to commit to moving to the new land where they can only live for two years. The reason for the urgency for moving the former refugees is that they currently live in a forest that is part of a reforestation programme and the local government has received a request from the local community that the camp be moved to a different location. The former refugees are worried about moving to a new location, which will also be temporary in nature. In addition, the people are depending on harvesting the land where they are currently living, and JRS believes that moving to a temporary location is only postponing a sustainable solution to their problems. Based on reports from the field, JRS Belu believes the core problem to be that the land is only “borrowed” and “temporary”. JRS Belu anticipates that the status of the new land will bring about new problems for the former refugees. First of all, the legal title of the land is unclear, as it is confiscated land. Furthermore, JRS Belu fears for the socio-economic consequences of the move. The temporary solution may cause conflicts between the former refugees and the local government when the two years are over. Furthermore, JRS Belu fears that the new location will not give the former refugees a feeling of safety for their future and a place where they can earn a living. The former refugees are not prepared to be a nomadic community. JRS Belu has pleaded with the local government and stakeholders to take these considerations into account and to reconsider their plans to move the former refugees.

UPDATES ON JRS PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

11. JRS IN TIMOR SUPPORTING FAMILY REUNION

JRS Kupang, West Timor, through the Separated Children Programme, organised a meeting between parents, children and the children’s guardians between 6-9 May. The children in question had been left in the care of guardians when their parents sought refuge from the violence which overtook East Timor back in 1999. It is estimated that about 1,200 East Timorese children were separated from their parents during that period of conflict. Most of the parents, who have now returned to newly independent East Timor, have asked for assistance to be reunited with their children. A very sensitive issue, it has been difficult to determine what is in the best interest of the children in these cases. Some of the children who have lived in the care of guardians for four years do not feel that East Timor is their home, and want to stay in West-Timor. In other cases, the guardians refuse to be parted from the children. Between 6 and 9 May, JRS organised and facilitated a meeting in Kupang between three sets of parents, four children and their guardians, which included arranging accommodation and transport for the parents from East Timor to Kupang. Most of the parents at the meeting insisted on bringing their children back to East Timor, though in only one of the three cases did the guardians agree to this. With the assistance of JRS, two boys, aged 10 and 6, returned with their parents on May 9. Negotiations over the care of a 12-year-old and a 7-year-old were complicated by the fact that the children and the guardians did not want to be separated from each other. Finally, it was agreed that the guardians would bring the children to their parents after the retirement of the foster father in January 2004.

12. JRS INDONESIA CELEBRATES BOOK RE-LAUNCH: EAST TIMOR CELEBRATES ONE YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE FROM INDONESIA On 20 May, East Timor celebrated the first anniversary of its independence from Indonesia. Since the new nation became independent in 2002, JRS has handed over the running of its projects in East Timor to local organisations, though continues to work with East Timor refugees in West Timor. The vast majority of the estimated 250,000 refugees who fled East Timor back in 1999 have since returned home, and the estimated 30,000 or so who have not done so, are, since 1 January 2003, no longer recongised as refugees by UNHCR or the Indonesian government.

Last week was also important for JRS Indonesia, who together with Galang Press, celebrated the re-launch of a collection of essays written by JRS staff and friends about life as a refugees in West Timor. Last week's launch was held in Bentara Budaya, Yogyakarta and was attended by approximately 40 people. There was also a panel discussion, which was led by Edi Mulyono SJ (National Director, JRS Indonesia), Pak Lambang (Sociologist at Universitas Gajah Mada) and Fr. Bagus SJ (former teacher of Senior High School in Dili, East Timor). On Thursday, May 15, the book was launched at a national book exhibition at the Universitas of Merdeka in Malang and following the exhibition Edi Mulyono was interviewed by the local radio. The book was launched because of JRS Indonesia's belief that writing is a powerful way to place refugee issues on the agenda.

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JRS DISPATCHES is from the International Office of Jesuit Refugee Service, CP 6139, 00195 Roma Prati, Italy. Tel: +39-06 689.77.390; Fax: +39-06 688 06 418; Email: dispatches@jrs.net; JRS on-line: http://www.jrs.net;

Publisher: Lluís Magriñà SJ; Editor: Hugh Delaney; Translation: Ignacio Echaniz (Spanish), Edith Castel (French), Centro Astalli/JRS Italy (Italian).

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