Diplomatic efforts aimed at finding a solution to the East Timor problem seem to be making little headway of late and for that reason a large group of East Timorese youths today demonstrated in front of the British Embassy in Jakarta.

This action, today, coincides with the start of the second Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) in London and serves to remind the international community, in particular the European Union, that the brutal war in East Timor is not yet over and East Timorese are still living in a climate of fear, with disappearances and extra-judicial executions being common occurrences.

The East Timor International Support Center (ETISC) today received reports that the Indonesian military is organising raids into the houses of civilians in Dili. These attacks usually happen late at night or in the early hours of the morning. On April 2, at 4:00 am the military raided the house of a widow in Hudi-Laran, Bairro Pite suburb in Dili. The widow and eight youths were arrested after the storming, and one youth killed and another injured. The whereabouts of the widow and the eight youths are still unknown.

There is disappointment, among the East Timorese youths that the date for a visit to East Timor's capital, Dili, by the European "troika" of past, present and upcoming European Union presidents, announced by British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook recently in Jakarta still remains ambiguous. The youth are also disappointed with this year's long-awaited UN-sponsored talks between Indonesia and Portugal which crashed to an immediate halt, because of the Indonesian currency crisis, with both countries agreeing to virtually nothing in trying to break the impasse over East Timor.

In February 1996, at the first ASEM in Bangkok, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres met Indonesia's President Suharto at the sidelines of the summit and presented a package of proposals to Indonesia, including the release of jailed East Timor resistance leader Xanana Gusmao and the opening of diplomatic "interest sections" in each other's capitals. The Indonesians later rejected completely Prime Minister Guterres' proposal with Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas angrily telling the Press that East Timor had "already determined its self-determination to be with Indonesia."

This time again, Alatas is repeating that same line saying he did not see East Timor coming up in the ASEM talks. "I think that will impossible during the summit. We should know that it will be an irrelevant topic. All people, including the host country (Britain) know this," he told Kompas news agency firmly last week. The East Timorese youths protesting outside the British Embassy, today, urge European governments not to use the Asian financial crisis as an excuse to not take a stand on East Timor or press Indonesia on it. The ongoing occupation of East Timor, the East Timorese youth point out, has been one of the factors contributing to the economic problems faced by Indonesia.

Over US$500 million dollars a year is spent on maintaining the huge Indonesian troop presence in East Timor. This amount does not include the costs of arms purchases, mostly from Europe, spy networks, civilian administration, notably corrupt and ineffective development works, as well as expense on international diplomatic damage control efforts. The material expenditure by Indonesia for its ongoing occupation of East Timor cannot go on and countries involved in the financial bailout of Indonesia should be made to realise this.

Through their protest action, today, the East Timorese youth also wish to remind the European Union that the current crisis faced by Indonesia is not merely financial in nature. It is the outcome of a profound political and social crisis in Indonesia, resulting from the excesses of 30 years of authoritarian military rule under President Suharto.

A solution to the current crisis requires a fundamental political change. The current system must be dismantled and democratic changes need to take place. ASEM must be focussing on ways to assist democratic change in Indonesia, as way to resolve the present crisis.

The East Timorese youths, also, wish to use this protest to show their solidarity with the youth of Indonesia, currently engaged in protest actions at universities throughout the country against the corrupt and authoritarian Suharto regime. The East Timorese youth hope that their daring action will further encourage their Indonesian counterparts to persevere at their campaign of protests until clear change is achieved in Indonesia.