Subject: SCMP: Military families flee troubled E.
Timor
Date: Sat, 06 Mar 1999 08:39:38 -0500
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo:
South China Morning Post Tuesday March 2 1999
Military families flee troubled E. Timor
JENNY GRANT in Jakarta
The Indonesian military is joining a growing exodus of migrants pulling their wives and
children out of the troubled eastern territory.
Military families had fully booked a weekly C-130 Hercules flight back to Jakarta and
Denpasar up until April, official sources said yesterday.
"Police and non-East Timorese soldiers are sending their families out on these
free flights," said the source.
The state-owned Merpati Airlines is refusing to accept cargo because planes are booked
to capacity with passengers carrying excess luggage. "People are pleading with me to
get their refrigerators and television sets on the plane, but I have to say 'No, I'm
sorry'," said Taufan, general manager of Merpati in East Timor.
Mr Taufan sent his wife and small daughter back to the central Java town of Semarang
last week.
Migrants from neighbouring islands are leaving East Timor across its land border to
West Timor. Residents say up to 50 trucks piled high with furniture make the daily trip
west from Dili.
Camps to house 5,000 people are being built in the border town of Atambua, a base in
1975 for thousands of pro-Indonesian refugees who fled East Timor.
Migrants from Java and Ujung Pandang in South Sulawesi are struggling to board two
passenger ships due to leave Dili this month.
There are 3,000 people booked on the vessel due to leave today. "We only have one
other ship heading west on March 16," said an official from the shipping ticket
office.
In Dili yesterday, 300 migrant teachers protested to demand repatriation, saying they
were no longer safe in East Timor.
•Indonesian President Bacharuddin Habibie wants East Timor to decide on the
question of autonomy before national elections on June 7, Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer said yesterday. Mr Downer said an "autonomy package" could be
finalised at the next round of UN-sponsored talks
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