Dili – Nearly 2,000 refugees have already returned to East Timor from refugee camps in West Timor, Indonesia, during the first five days of this month, UN refugee officials said today.

The East Timor office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) attributes the current upsurge in returns – nearly 4,000 came back last month, the highest monthly total in two years – to East Timor's upcoming presidential elections and independence celebrations.

UNHCR has also received unconfirmed reports from its counterparts in Indonesia that as many as 2,000 more refugees may return next week.

The impetus for refugees to return in the coming weeks was likely increased on 4 April when independence leader and presidential candidate Xanana Gusmao crossed the border in a UNHCR convoy and addressed mass meetings of refugees and their leaders in Atambua and Kefa, West Timor. The meetings were attended by more than 10,000 refugees.

During the meetings, Gusmao handed out 4,000 hand-written postcards from the people of East Timor encouraging their compatriots in the refugee community to return.

Prior to the meeting in Atambua, Gusmao and Robert Ashe, head of the UNHCR-East Timor, met with TNI regional commander, Major General William da Costa. They all placed wreaths at a former UNHCR office where three UNHCR staff members were murdered by a mob of militiamen in September 2000.

The total number of repatriated East Timorese refugees since October 1999 is now close to 200,000, and UNHCR estimates there are less than 60,000 refugees remaining in the camps across the border.