Dili – The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor has demanded that Indonesia arrest and disarm militia leaders responsible for an attack in which a Nepalese soldier was killed and four others wounded.
Jakarta is under mounting international pressure to curb the pro-integration gangs who operate with impunity from year-old refugee camps across the border in Indonesia West Timor.
Speaking to reporters late on Friday after returning from the western border area, Sergio Vieira de Mello told reporters that the Indonesian government needed to do more than offer vague statements to close down the refugee camps. "Closing down the camps is a fairly vague concept. Once you close them down, what do you do with the refugees? Do you throw them into the sea? Do you force them across the border?"
On Friday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said his government was drawing up plans to close the refugee camps, squalid homes to some 100,000 East Timorese who have lived there since fleeing their homeland last year.
Up to a quarter of East Timor's 800,000 population were forced out of the impoverished territory by rampaging pro-integration militias after it overwhelmingly voted to break from 23 years of harsh Indonesian rule.
Closing the camps, no solution
"Closing the camps I don't think is a solution. The solution is what we've been requesting from the Indonesian government since October last year, which is to identify – which is not difficult – disarm and detain those extremist elements who are operating from within the camps," de Mello said.
"That's what needs to be done and as long as that doesn't happen then I'm afraid refugees will not come back and our people will continue to die," he said. De Mello heads the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), which includes an 8,000-strong peacekeeping force drawn from 32 countries of which Australia is the biggest contributor.
Two UN soldiers have been killed in as many weeks after clashes with pro-Indonesia militiamen, and senior UN military commanders are warning of an upsurge of violence this month. The focus is on two anniversaries – Indonesia's independence day on August 17 and on August 30 which will mark one year since the majority of East Timorese voted to quit Jakarta rule.
UN officials say violence has also been increasing on the West Timor side of the border. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have suspended repatriation of refugees because of the growing threat of attacks on their staff.
More attacks
The IOM office in the refugee border town of Atambua was besieged by about 50 militiamen on Friday. They were eventually dispersed by Indonesian troops.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council both called on Indonesia on Friday to halt infiltration of armed militias from West Timor into East Timor.
De Mello said he was worried by the increase in military skills shown by the cross border raiders, but stopped short of directly accusing the Indonesian military of having a role. "It seems as if a few groups of fairly well trained and well coordinated militia are presently operating in the districts of Bobonaro and Cova Lima, possibly having also entered the Ainoaro district [in East Timor]. "They are not large groups but they are very well trained and ready to kill."
He said there was no evidence Indonesian troops were involved. "But as I said, they were very well trained. Therefore our assessment is that they are either ex-TNI [Indonesian military] or militia who have been receiving fairly advanced training and I'll let you form your own conclusions."
Four Australian soldiers were wounded on Friday after an explosion in a rubbish dump near the border. UN sources said the injuries were not life-threatening and that there was no indication so far that the blast was intentional.