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Protest at Australian embassy
in Dili, Timor-Leste, December
6, 2013. |
MOVEMENT AGAINST THE OCCUPATION OF THE
TIMOR SEA
Press Release
For many years,
Australia has been stealing the oil and
gas from the Timor Sea, in an area which
belongs to Timor-Leste under international
legal principles. Sadly, Australia has shown
its manner and its greed to make our small
and poor country in this region lose our
resources and sovereignty.
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Protesters demonstrate at Australian
embassy in Dili, Timor-Leste,
December 5, 2013. |
After it
became aware of the oil and gas reserves
in the Timor Sea, Australia supported Indonesia
for more than two decades as it committed
genocide against the people of this land,
stealing and using its strong economic and
political power to trample us, making themselves
rich by leaving us in poverty.
A few days ago, the Australian government
used its intelligence service to seize documents
from Timor-Leste’s lawyer in the CMATS (Certain
Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea)
arbitration case, and to put pressure on
a “whistleblower” so that he could not testify.
These are not the practices of a nation
which values democracy, freedom and morality.
In addition, Australia’s leaders showed
their disrespect for the Timor-Leste people
– a small, poor people who generously helped
Australia during the Second World War against
Japan, at the cost of 40,000 Timorese people’s
lives.
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Australia
should set an example as a sovereign
nation which respects and recognizes
the rights of Timor-Leste’s people.
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Today,
the Movement Against the Occupation of the
Timor Sea asks the Government of Australia
to:
1. Stop
stealing and occupying the Timor Sea, but
show your good will as a large nation which
follows democratic principles to accept
a maritime boundary which follows international
law principles.
2. Australia should set an example as a
sovereign nation which respects and recognizes
the rights of Timor-Leste’s people.
3. Australia should not promote or continue
neocolonialism against Timor-Leste’s people,
who have suffered this for centuries. We
will no longer be your slaves.
4. The Abbott government should apologize
to the Maubere people, who have been hugely
discriminated against by Australia from
the past to the present. If not, we will
continue to demonstrate at the Australian
Embassy for the indefinite future.
This concludes our press release, and thank
you for your attention.
The struggle continues.
Dili 5 December 2013
Juvinal Dias
Representative, Movement Against the Occupation
of the Timor Sea
Contact number (+670) 77348703/77126417
