Rising tensions and an increasing number of attacks on foreign aid workers in West Timor reduced the IOM/UNHCR repatriations of East Timorese refugees to a trickle in July and August. In early July, IOM was forced to suspend all return operations from the Kupang area following fighting between the local population and East Timorese refugees. The fighting blocked the main road to Soe, Kefa and Atambua, stopping IOM from transporting 330 personnel to registration sites throughout West Timor.
On the first day of the registration, militia thugs terrorized registration officials in camps in the Belu border district. Despite the promise of increased security from the West Timor authorities, IOM and other international organizations working in Kupang were forced to call off the exercise on the first day.
IOM vehicles providing transport for the registration were stoned and staff were threatened with machetes. After the attempt to register the refugees and in response to militia threats, IOM and UNHCR decided to close their offices in Betun.
IOM's final family reunion scheduled for the Motaain-Batugade border on 29 July was also disrupted by several hundred Aitarak militia, who threatened both IOM staff and refugees trying to attend the event.
An IOM contractor in Atambua was told that his house would be burnt down if he supplied IOM with vehicles to take people to the reunion, and IOM truck drivers planning to transport refugees to the border were threatened with hand grenades.
In mid-August, ahead of Indonesia's 17 August Independence Day holiday, Aitarak militia surrounded IOM's Atambua office, forcing its temporary closure for one week. International staff were re-deployed to Kupang and following similar threats to UNHCR, the UN raised the security rating for Belu district from Phase III to Phase IV. In East Timor, the militia threat also increased in July and August. This led many observers to view the security situation on both sides of the border as worse than at any time during the preceding nine months.
UN Peacekeepers in East Timor reported widespread infiltration of well-armed and well-trained militia in August. In the month before the Independence Day holiday, 12 border shooting incidents were reported and two UN Peacekeepers, a New Zealander and a Nepali, were killed. They were the PKF's first combat fatalities.
International pressure on Indonesia to respect the territorial integrity of East Timor and take action against the militias also increased in August. Donor countries led by the US told the government that unless "they act to disarm and disband the militias, separate armed groups from the refugee population in the camps, provide security for international aid agencies, and conduct a registration of refugees, they risk seriously damaging Indonesia's international reputation." Militia violence against international aid workers in West Timor has been condemned by the Indonesian authorities, but little or no action has been taken, creating an impression that they remain immune from prosecution. In mid-August donors told Indonesia that their support for a government task force charged with clearing the West Timor camps within six months was conditional on security guarantees. At this time, the only route that remained opened for IOM to assist those wishing to return was by sea from Kupang to Dili on the IOM-operated ship the "Patricia Anne Hotung". Despite all these setbacks, IOM remains committed to assisting all East Timorese who wish to return home.
[Chris Lowenstein Lom IOM Information Officer]