Jakarta – Indonesia expects to have repatriated 190,000 East Timorese refugees, currently still living in East Nusa Tenggara province, by the end of 2002, a minister said on Wednesday.

"So far, an average of 10,000 refugees are being sent back to their homeland every month," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said as quoted by Antara.

Speaking to journalists after chairing a ministerial meeting on social welfare matters here, Jusuf said the government would also take care of East Timorese refugees who did not wish to be repatriated and preferred to become Indonesian citizens.

"The government will help them get resettled somewhere in the country," he said. In addition, the government will set aside Rp 100 billion (US$10.5 million) in funds to pay the pensions of about 6,000 East Timorese refugees who worked as servicemen or civil servants in East Timor when the territory was still part of Indonesia, Kalla said.

Besides handling the East Timorese refugees, Kalla said, his ministry would also resolve the problem of 1.2 million refugees spread over 19 provinces. They were forcibly displaced by natural disasters and communal or ethnic conflicts.

"This refugee problem must soon be overcome to curb another problem, including the increasing number of poor people or even threats of national disintegration," he said.

He said the government would offer refugees three options in its efforts to solve the problem. The options are: returning them to their homeland, resettling them in new places based on preference and repatriating them to East Timor.

All of the refugees are expected to get jobs to support themselves and their families, and to improve their living standards in a peaceful situation, Kalla added.