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Thousands flee in fear of bloodshed

Source
Sydney Morning Herald - September 1, 1999

Mark Dodd, Dili – Thousands of Jakarta supporters in East Timor have packed their belongings, locked their homes and fled across the border into Indonesian West Timor in fear of renewed bloodshed following Monday's ballot.

A United Nations Civilian Police officer based at the East Timor border town of Batugade told the Herald that between 30 and 40 buses loaded with belongings from Indonesian families or supporters of integration were crossing each day.

Dili-based human rights groups and senior UN security officials said the exodus comprised mainly family members of Indonesian military, police and militia officials, but also included civil servants and small-business people.

A Herald news team visiting the violence-riven Western district of Maliana, 140 kilometres from Dili, on Monday saw a steady stream of traffic heading for the border.

A senior UN political officer based in Maliana said the local bupati (mayor) had estimated some 4,000 people – one third of the entire population of Maliana sub-district – had left since August 15.

"This exodus really started on August 15 following the start of the pro-autonomy campaign," said the official, who asked not to be named.

Around Atabae, Batugade and Balibo in the south-west hills, hundreds of households were preparing for immediate evacuation.

Family members were seen sitting outside their homes with bed-rolls packed and bags of provisions nearby. Mini-buses and vans were doing a roaring trade as they collected the emigres for the short trip across the border.

Many houses in Maliana and nearby Balibo were deserted because their pro-independence owners had fled into the hills to safety rather than cross the border into West Timor.

Many residents spoke of threats by pro-Jakarta militia to launch attacks if the referendum vote went against them – an almost certain outcome.

Dili was tense last night after scores of Aitarak militia wearing black T-shirts ransacked the ocean-front office of the pro-independence National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT), which opened only one week ago.

Aitarak, a Tetum language word for Thorn, is one of the biggest and best organised pro-Indonesian militias, led by Eurico Guterres, whose main source of income is derived from lucrative gambling rackets run out of the municipal market.

Police were nowhere to be seen while many Aitarak had apparent freedom of movement in and out of the local ocean-front military barracks one kilometre away.

The funeral of an autonomy supporter scheduled for today has raised fears of renewed militia violence. Last Thursday at least five people were killed when militia went on a rampage. Many shops in Dili remain closed. Their owners have either fled into the mountains or joined the border exodus.

Local staff from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) fled late last week after militia threats to torch the office. Hundreds of locally employed household staff who live in the staunch pro-independence neighbourhoods of Becora and Kulunun have also fled into the hills. "We're expecting trouble before the end of the week," said one senior UN security official based in Dili.

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