Kupang – After taking refuge for 11 years at Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara, following the 1999 referendum, 24 people returned to Timor Leste, facilitated by CIS Timor and the Care for Women and Children Forum (FPPA).

"They have been returned home through Mota'ain border in the north of Belu on Monday afternoon," CIS coordinator Deonato Moreira said Tuesday.

The transportation of 24 refugees, comprising six families, was the third time this year with another 25 people joining the previous two batches in July.

The 1999 referendum triggered the detachment of Timor Leste, then East Timor, as an independent state, separate from Indonesia.

"Many refugees want to return and we have built a network to facilitate them," Deonato said. He added their wish for a home had stemmed from the fact that local people were beginning to claim back the land they were living on.