Trapped by fear: the forgotten refugees of East Timor

[struggle4progress]

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The inhabitants of Sunkaer Laran, and other miserable camps like it, are the forgotten victims of the violence that convulsed East Timor after its independence vote in September 1999. When Indonesian soldiers and their East Timorese militias ran riot, slaughtering villagers and burning their houses, 250,000 people fled or were forced over the border. Nearly five years on, 30,000 remain in West Timor, unwilling - or too fearful - to return.
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East Timor wants the refugees and, officially at least, Indonesia also wants them to go home. But the efforts of refugee organisations are hampered by insecurity in West Timor and in any case, their encouraging words are no match for the menaces of the feared militia gangs still keen to stir trouble in the former Indonesian province.

The militia commanders and their supporters, who opposed independence in their homeland, live close to the border. Many are in the town of Atambua, where most of the refugee camps are clustered. International observers say their influence has waned, but that is not the experience of people in the camps. "They control everything," one elderly woman in Sunkaer Laran said. "They tell us what to do."
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Refugee organisations say it is unclear how many East Timorese are being intimidated into staying in Indonesia. Some are former members of the Indonesian armed forces and civil service, who can draw pensions in West Timor and might face retribution if they returned to their villages. Others say they lost everything in 1999, including their families, and see no point in going home while the economic situation in East Timor remains poor.
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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=531340

The lingering human aftermath of a war ...