ABC: East Timor reassures political asylum seekers

28/12/01 22:05:30 | ABC Radio Australia News

East Timor reassures political asylum seekers

The Chief Minister of East Timor, Mari Alkatiri, says up to sixteen hundred asylum seekers in Australia should have no fear of returning to East Timor.

The applicants have been in Australia for up to eight years, and refugee lawyer Sue Biok says some think it’s not safe to go back.
Her concern follows the Australian Government’s decision to postpone applications from Afghan asylum seekers due to the changed political conditions in Kabul.

Dr Alkatiri says the East Timorese have a right to stay in Australia on some grounds, but political asylum should not be one of them.
“Really fled the country to Indonesia, up to 200-thousand are already back and not a single incident took place in this country. They have been received by their relatives by the people as a whole and not a single incident.”

28/12/01 22:05:30 | ABC Radio Australia News