BACK
DOOR Newsletter on East Timor home
July news
"Over 250,000 East Timorese
refugees fled to or were deported to West Timor in the wake of the post-election
violence in East Timor in September 1999. The miserable living conditions
of the refugees and their intimidation at the hands of militias who virtually
controlled the camps, drew much media attention throughout this year.
JRS projects in West Timor: JRS
set up in West Timor in September 1999. A team of 20 Indonesian nationals
worked in the camps, collaborating closely with the local church. JRS did
not evacuate with other international agencies when the UNHCR personnel
were killed, becoming one of the few international organisations to maintain
a presence in the camps." Edi Mulyono SJ, Jesuit Refugee Service Indonesia
director
See also: BD:
'Refugees'
& Missing Persons - A collection of recent information,
reports, articles and news
JRS: Annual Report 2000 East & West Timor
2000 Report
There are also
Reports on: see
below
Australia: http://www.jesref.org/jrs/ar2000/apa/aus2000.htm
Indonesia - Moluccas: http://www.jesref.org/jrs/ar2000/apa/idn2000m.htm
EAST TIMOR
Country situation:
The rate of refugee returns in the last months
of the year was disappointingly low. Meanwhile, the people of East Timor
faced the tough challenge of rebuilding their nation. The UN established
a Transitional Administration for East Timor (UNTAET) with the task of
supporting the East Timorese through the transition period from Indonesian
rule to full independence. Priorities this year continued to be shelter,
food, education, health, agriculture and income-generation. Reconciliation
linked with justice emerged as a key discussion. By the end of the year,
several emergency response international NGOs had left or were leaving
East Timor. Over 70 local NGOs were operating in the territory. Despite
the slow process of reconstruction, the failings of UNTAET and other international
organisations, the difficulties and complex issues to be faced by the East
Timorese leadership, East Timor continued its process of reconstruction.
JRS projects in East Timor:
JRS established three rural bases at the invitation
of the communities and their parish priests to provide services and build
up local capacity. Our teams developed a reputation for building bridges
among people and working alongside them. The team in Dili co-ordinated
work in a number of fields.
human rights, returnees:
DILI Human rights work focused on encouraging
refugee returns, supporting local hu-man rights groups and facilitating
reconciliation and reintegration.
MALIANA, Bobonaro district Achievements:
* investigation of human rights violations
and organisation of human rights education sessions together with UNTAET,
UNHCR and local NGOs;
* monitoring and assisting returnees in
Bobonaro district, providing for basic needs not met by UNHCR;
* collection of letters from the community
to be sent to the camps in West Timor.
pastoral:
LURO sub-district
Extensive pastoral outreach formed part
of the work of the JRS team in Luro, which reached out to some 24 villages
with a total population of around 12,000 people.
Coordinator: Salvador Ferrao SJ
Achievements this year included:
* a reconciliation house was completed
in October;
* running of workshops on faith and human
rights;
* reconstruction of housing for women.
MALIANA Apart from provision of pastoral
and sacramental ministry, widows of the 1999 violence were assisted and
a youth centre supported by international NGOs was set up.
education:
LURO, MALIANA, DILI Education work responded
to needs of local teachers.
Beneficiaries/achievements:
* teaching methodology training presented
via English language lessons;
* supply of school stationery to schools;
* desks and chairs supplied to refurnish
Odofuro secondary school, Luro;
* 13 schools reached in Luro.
community self development:
LURO JRS collaborated with another NGO to
provide support to women’s groups, setting up six cooperatives.
agriculture:
LURO Working with the Church and international
NGOs, JRS helped communities meet their most immediate needs.
Achievements:
* insecticide usage training program in
four villages;
* clean water supply project in seven
villages;
* rice productivity improvement project.
MALIANA JRS concentrated on helping farmers
start production activities anew. Do-nated seed was distributed and sprayers
and technical support provided. The rehabilitation of an irrigation canal
and water supply system was facilitated.
health:
LURO
Beneficiaries/achievements:
* a doctor working for two months in inaccessible
areas reached 3,000 patients with a group of local health workers;
* a nurse supported health workers and
worked with the community to promote education on the prevention of the
spread of infection;
* distribution of donated mosquito nets.
MALIANA
Beneficiaries/achievements:
* assisting sick returnees, in coordination
with UNHCR;
* involvement in training local health
workers and volunteer health promoters;
* workshops with widows and survivors
of gender-based violence in coordination with a local women’s NGO.
AINARO district JRS ran a six-month program
in collaboration with another NGO to meet some of the outstanding needs
of the population of Ainaro. JRS placed a health care worker to train local
health care animators.
INDONESIA / WEST TIMOR
JRS Indonesia director: Edi Mulyono SJ
Country situation:
Over 250,000 East Timorese refugees fled to
or were deported to West Timor in the wake of the post-election violence
in East Timor in September 1999. The miserable living conditions of the
refugees and their intimidation at the hands of militias who virtually
controlled the camps, drew much media attention throughout this year. Matters
came to a head when three UNHCR expatriate personnel were killed by rampaging
militia in Atambua on 6 September. UN and other international agencies
withdrew from East Timor, leaving the refugees without protection and assistance.
At the end of the year, between 65,000 and 100,000 refugees remained in
West Timor. Some have no desire to return to East Timor unless it is once
again part of Indonesia, others are militia leaders who committed crimes
against humanity; many are not, and they are waiting to see how the situation
unfolds in East Timor after the election and the withdrawal of UNTAET.
Others want to return but are denied security or the conditions for a free
and informed choice.
JRS projects in West Timor:
JRS set up in West Timor in September 1999.
A team of 20 Indonesian nationals worked in the camps, collaborating closely
with the local church. JRS did not evacuate with other international agencies
when the UNHCR personnel were killed, becoming one of the few international
organisations to maintain a presence in the camps.
repatriation:
KUPANG, BETUN, ATAMBUA The JRS team encouraged
and helped refugees to return to East Timor, assisting UNHCR with registration.
Following the withdrawal of the UN agency, JRS registered refugees who
wished to return, collaborating with the task force of the government of
Indonesia charged with facilitating refugee returns. In Atambua, JRS provided
materials for refugees who decided to return: soap and clothes.
education:
KUPANG JRS set up an informal elementary school,
first in a stadium and later in Tuapukan camp, with volunteer teachers
from a Kupang university. A kindergarten was set up in Noelbaki camp and
a catechism program started in three camps.
Beneficiaries:
* 120 children in elementary school;
* 300 children in kindergarten.
BETUN JRS started to run four schools in
September.
Beneficiaries: 460 students
mailing system:
KUPANG JRS in East and West Timor organised
mail exchange between refugees in West Timor and their relatives at home.
About 200 letters were sent weekly to East Timor.
health:
KUPANG, ATAMBUA, BETUN JRS nurses went regularly
to the camps to treat refugees and provide medicine. Milk, clothes, and
other materials were provided for children under three. Medicine was supplied
to the diocesan medical team in Kupang.
self-sufficiency:
ATAMBUA, BETUN JRS distributed seeds and agricultural
tools. In Atambua, refugees were assisted to procure land and in Betun,
farmers' cooperatives were set up. Women were taught skills like cooking
and weaving, and in some cases given capital.
pastoral:
BETUN A priest visited the camps daily, providing
sacramental ministry.
There are also Reports
on:
Australia:
"Country situation:
Immigration reforms limited refugee rights
and prohibited the national Human Rights Commission from initiating contact
with immigration detainees. Several thousand refugee applicants and ‘boat
people’ were detained in centres, which were harshly criticised for miserable
living conditions and the treatment of the detainees at the hands of the
authorities. One notorious facility, the Woomera centre, was dubbed the
“desert gulag” by the national press. The year was marked by riots at Woomera
and the Port Hedland centre in western Australia."
http://www.jesref.org/jrs/ar2000/apa/aus2000.htm
Indonesia - Moluccas:
"Country situation:
Thousands have been killed since sectarian
conflict was ignited in the Moluccas spice islands at the beginning of
1999. Violence intensified this year with the arrival of Laskar Jihad fighters
from Java, who launched several attacks on Christian villages, slaughtering
hundreds of people. The Indonesian government declared a state of civil
emergency in June in an attempt to stem the violence. Although the situation
was reportedly calmer at the end of the year, tension remained prevalent
and attacks continued. Observers claim elements within Indonesia’s political
and military circles have at least tacitly fuelled the conflict. An estimated
700,000 people were displaced, according to the International Catholic
Migration Commission (ICMC). Those who sought refuge in Ambon and elsewhere
on the islands were in need of protection and material assistance."
http://www.jesref.org/jrs/ar2000/apa/idn2000m.htm
Spanish / espanhol:
El
Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados (JRS): Accompañar,
Servir, Defender Added Mar 24
El Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados es una
organización católica internacional que trabaja en más
de 40 países, con la misión de acompañar, servir y
defender los derechos de los refugiados y desplazados forzosos. La misión
confiada a JRS comprende a todos los que han sido apartados de sus hogares
por los conflictos, los desastres humanitarios o las violaciones de los
derechos humanos, de acuerdo con la enseñanza social católica
que define como refugiado “de facto” a múltiples categorías
de personas. La razón de ser de JRS está íntimamente
liada a la misión de la Sociedad de Jesús (Jesuitas), a saber,
el promocionar la justicia del Reino de Dios en diálogo con otras
culturas y religiones.
International: CP 6139, 00195 Roma
Prati, Italy. Tel: +39-06 689.77.391; Fax: +39-06 687.92.83; Email:
international@jesref.org
Asia Pacific: Tel: +66 - 2 279 1817;
Tel: +66 - 2 278 4182; Fax: +66 - 2 271 3632 Email: asia.pacific@jesref.org
Para pedir información sobre JRS,
diríjase a la persona de contacto del Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados
en su país de
residencia. La oficina
internacional de JRS también tiene un servicio de información.
URL:
http://www.jesref.org
English:
Jesuit
Refugee Service (JRS): To accompany, To serve, To
advocate Added Mar 24
The JRS is an international Catholic organisation,
at work in over 40 countries, including East Timor and Indonesia, with
a mission is to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and
forcibly displaced people. The mission given to JRS embraces all who are
driven from their homes by conflict, humanitarian disaster or violation
of human rights, following Catholic social teaching which applies the expression
‘de facto refugee’ to many related categories of people. The purpose of
JRS is intimately connected with the mission of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits),
namely to promote the justice of God’s Kingdom, in dialogue with cultures
and religions.
International: CP 6139, 00195 Roma
Prati, Italy. Tel: +39-06 689.77.391; Fax: +39-06 687.92.83; Email:
international@jesref.org
Asia Pacific: Tel: +66 - 2 279 1817;
Tel: +66 - 2 278 4182; Fax: +66 - 2 271 3632 Email: asia.pacific@jesref.org
Contact JRS contact person in the country
where you live. The JRS
International office also provides an information service. Homepage:
http://www.jesref.org
Timor alerts:
http://www.jesref.org/inf/alert/tplatest.htm
See
also:
BD:
'Refugees' & Missing Persons - A collection
of recent information, reports, articles and news
BACK
DOOR Newsletter on East Timor home
July news
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