Kupang – Former pro-integration leaders established on Monday the Presidium of East Timorese Refugees to accommodate support for refugees of the former province of East Timor.

One of the founders, Eurico Gutteres, vowed the organization would not get involved in politics, but would merely provide humanitarian assistance for the refugees.

He said that the East Timorese people, who had chosen to stay in Indonesia after separation in 1999, needed a forum to talk about their problems.

"We do not need to look back ... what we need now is reconciliation among the East Timorese," another founder of the presidium, Carlos de Fatima, said after the declaration.