Lyall Johnson – As East Timor celebrated its nationhood yesterday, 1600 East Timorese asylum seekers living in Australia faced an anxious wait to see if they could remain in the country many have called home for more than a decade.

The Federal Government last year refused to grant special humanitarian visa status to the East Timorese, many of whom are ethnic Chinese, and is continuing to process their applications, which had been technically frozen since 1996.

"The government is saying people should return home but because they have been here for so long and their kids have grown up, it is very hard for them to go back," said Li Hian, a former East Timorese who has been in Melbourne since 1982 and is now a councillor with the City of Yarra.

"In many cases there is nothing left for them to return to," he said. "Their homes and their belongings, they have all gone, and the infrastructure is not there for their return."

Lawyers and community groups are outraged by the government's decision not to grant the Timorese special status.

Immigration lawyer Karen Anderson said many of the refugees had vastly changed personal circumstances and would have nothing to go back to.

"The government, I think, has really been quite unconscionable in the way they have postponed and delayed the processing of these applications until in their view it is safe to return," Ms Anderson said.

For some who were children when they came, East Timor is nothing but a distant memory.

The Minister for Immigration can intervene in the application process and the government has said it would take into consideration the changed political circumstances.

To-Sum Lay, 51, came to Australia in 1995, fleeing the harassment of Indonesian officials and militias. He says he is worried that his application, along with the applications of his family, will not be approved.

"Every day I think about it, it is very emotional for me," he said. "Of course it would be very hard to return because my family is here, all my brothers and sisters and kids are here."

Mr Lay's situation could mean that he and his wife are denied visas while his children could be allowed to stay, as they may qualify under special rules. He said it would be very hard if that was to happen.