Jakarta – Some 10,000 East Timorese repatriated by international agencies have returned to refugee camps in Indonesia because of uncertainties at home, including food shortages, a minister has said in Jakarta.

Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Basri Hasanuddin said on Saturday: "Since conditions in East Timor have not yet returned to normal, we have received reports of these people coming back to their former camps in West Timor.

"These refugees opted to return to the camps in Atambua, across the border from East Timor, because they can enjoy free meals and shelter in the camps. Their country does not provide these necessities." Mr Basri did not say how the East Timorese were able to cross the border unobserved by the authorities.

The fact that the East Timorese were able to cross the border into Indonesia raised concerns over security along the border with East Timor, he said. "We expect stricter measures to prevent more cross-border flows. We really wish the refugees would return to East Timor because we cannot afford to provide for them anymore," he said.

An estimated 260,000 people fled East Timor during the violence which followed the August 30 self-determination ballot which resulted in an overwhelmingly vote for independence. Almost 80 per cent of the infrastructure in the territory was damaged during the mayhem after the ballot.

Mr Basri has several times complained about financial difficulties in sheltering the East Timor refugees, since Indonesia is also caring for some 400,000 refugees who had fled communal clashes in Kalimantan, Maluku and Aceh.