Jakarta – The safety of refugees is still guaranteed: Even though the government has abolished refugee status for the refugees from East Timor with effect from 31 December 2001, Commander IX/Udayana Military Area Command Maj-Gen Willem da Costa, stated that he would still guarantee their safety.

"They do not have refugee status. However, a guarantee of their safety has been given", he said on Wednesday 2 January. After farewelling President Megawati Soekarnoputri on her journey back to Jakarta on Tuesday (1 January), the two-star general told journalists that there were currently hundreds of thousands of refugees from East Timor in the East Nusa Tenggara region. "There are still many living here, however we do not have any accurate data, because the figures vary from one agency to another. But in principle, they are still being made to feel safe", he said.

According to him, every day there are refugees returning to East Timor. "Moreover, since the Indonesian government had given them a final payment of 700,000 rupiah and IX/Udayana Military Area Command had also donated seeds to plant, many refugees were interested in returning to East Timor".