Jakarta – The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said here Wednesday he had appealed to Indonesia to allow it to immediately step up its presence in East Timor, citing disturbing new tensions there.
Clashes, signs Indonesians in essential services were leaving and refugees fleeing armed militia, all spelled an urgent need for a "humanitarian mobilization," Cornelio Sommaruga told a press conference here.
"The situation is certainly very tense there ... because of the provocations ... a very sad situation. Our reaction is that we will have to cope with some urgent human [needs] but we will have to have more personnel," he said.
Sommaruga said he had made the appeal to Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas at an "intense" 90-minute long meeting earlier Wednesday. Alatas, he said, had been "very sensitive" to the request and promised to consult with his colleagues in the government.
"I hope the paper [the new agreement] will be signed at a later stage," he said, without saying what numbers of reinforcements might be needed. On the figures requested, he would say only: "We have to decide according to the evolution of the situation."
The ICRC currently has five foreigners stationed in East Timor, where tensions have risen dramatically since Jakarta on January 27 made a bombshell announcement it was prepared to consider granting independence to the former Portuguese colony it invaded 23 years ago.
Sommaruga said the presence of increased numbers of civilian militia armed by the Indonesian government since the announcement had "already affected" humanitarian operations in East Timor.
The civilian population, he said, was "somewhat afraid" of the militia which had resulted in population movements of thousands of refugees. "Even if it is not huge ... it is certainly a problem," he said.
He added he had aired his worries over the militia to Alatas and to military commanders concerned with East Timor while in Bali Monday during an unsuccessful attempt to reach East Timor, which was thwarted by bad weather.
"We have a lot of sad experiences in the world of paramilitary groups that cannot be controlled any more," he added.
Sommaruga said he had also devoted "a lot" of his talk with Alatas to the threatened exodus of thousands of Indonesians and pro-Indonesians from East Timor, describing the issue as one of the "major preoccupations" of the ICRC.
He cited the example of the Indonesian medical staff of the main government hospital in Dili, who three weeks ago had been scared off by attacks, and had all appealed to be sent home.
In addition he said there were "increased population movements because of the increased presence of the militia, the army and guerrillas," and clashes between pro-and anti-Indonesians as recently as this week in which people had died.
Sommaruga, who is making his first visit to Indonesia since 1993, said he was scheduled to meet with Indonesian armed forces chief Wiranto on Thursday and with Indonesian President B.J. Habibie on Friday.