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East Timorese still live in fear of their lives

Source
The Australian - August 17, 2000

Andrew Perrin, Ainaro – Fearing UN peacekeepers cannot guarantee their safety, villagers in East Timor's mountainous central south-west have fled to the forest or formed vigilante groups against possible militia attack.

The exodus to the mountains last Friday of 1200 people from the remote village of Maununo, about 40km from the West Timor border, is the first time villagers have left their homes since international security forces began arriving in East Timor last September.

Hundreds of thousands of Timorese sought refuge in the mountains as militia violence swept the territory after the August 30 independence vote. Most returned to burned-out villages and towns after the Australian-led Interfet forced militia groups into West Timor.

But in the past month security along the rugged border separating UN-controlled East Timor from West Timor has steadily deteriorated. Incursions have left two UN peacekeepers dead and plunged already traumatised Timorese living near the border into a state of panic.

In Maununo, the sighting of a militia group close to the village last Thursday caused alarm in the small farming community. When the people heard militia were in the area they ran straight to the forest, Maununo's village chief, Afonso Da Cunha, said. Maununo is where local militia last September killed 12 people in what was one of the worst single massacres recorded in the central south-west. The town's population is now camped in the open air along a river valley not far from the village, returning only by day to stock up with provisions.

"I will not return until the peacekeeping force sends us some soldiers to live in the town," said Marguerido Bianco, a mother of six, who is camped in the same arew where her family lived for a month last year before the peacekeepers arrived.

Mr Da Cunha said the Portuguese unit of the UN peacekeeping force based in Ainaro, 10km to the north of the village, was reluctant to base soldiers in the village because of its inaccessibility by road.

"They came here for 10 minutes on Saturday and told us we should not be scared and then they left," he said. "But we are all still living in the forest." The people's fears appear to be justified following many confirmed militia sightings in the area this week. In the town of Cassa, 20km to the south of Maununo, a militia group on Sunday night harassed the residents and left.

More worrying for UN peacekeepers was the presence of about 40 militia near the town of Hatu Buliko, high in the mountains of central-west Timor, on Sunday night. Cesar Opricio – a senior inspector for the UN's civilian police Civpol, who travelled to Hatu Buliko on Monday to investigate the sighting – said the frightened people had formed a vigilante group ready to defend the village against militia attack.

Nobody slept in the village on Sunday night, he said. "They all huddled together and the men formed their own security. They were all heavily armed with machetes and scythes. They said they did not want a repeat of last year. Things are getting worse. It's bad." UN officials in Dili said the upsurge in militia activity was expected to continue over the next few weeks, with key events to take place.

There are fears that the anniversary today of Indonesia's Independence Day may prove an opportunity for militia to launch attacks to show their allegiance to Jakarta.

And next week East Timor's political leaders, including the likely first president Xanana Gusmao, will gather in Dili to discuss the nation's future. On August 30, the territory marks the first anniversary of its rejection of militia and Indonesian army intimidation to choose independence.

Lieutenant-Colonel Brynjar Nemo, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in East Timor, said yesterday that security in the border areas was being revised: "Based on the increase in the number of reports [of militia activity], the tempo of our operations will increase."

[On August 17, Associated Press reported that UN troops have boosted security in Dili after pro-Jakarta militiamen infiltrated into the town, Peacekeepers set up roadblocks on the three avenues leading into Dili. Peacekeeping spokesperson Brynjar Nymo said the militiamen could have returned among groups of refugees from West Timor - James Balowski.]

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