Kupang – Twenty-six East Timorese who have been seeking asylum in Belu district since last October have sent a petition to President Megawati Soekarnoputri asking for protection and expressing their objections to being deported.

"We appeal to the Indonesian president and government to protect us. We prefer to be punished in Indonesia to being sent back to East Timor," the asylum seekers said in a letter to the President, a copy of which was received by ANTARA on Tuesday.

In their letter, they claimed to have always been supporters of East Timor's integration with Indonesia.

They said they used to be refugees in East Nusatenggara (Indonesian part of Timor island) and had returned to East Timor late in 2001 after being persuaded by certain persons at a reconciliation meeting.

But since their repatriation, they were frequently subjected to terror and intimidation. As they did not feel safe living in their homeland, they finally decided to go back to Atambua in Belu district, East Nusa Tenggara, they said in their letter.

The East Timorese asylum seekers said they were resolved not to return to their former homeland and were ready, if need be, to be punished even with death in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, lawyer for the 26 East Timorese asylum seekers, Nocholay Aprilindo, separately said their letter had been sent to the Indonesian president in Jakarta.

"We are hoping the Indonesian government will soon respond to the letter and find a solution to the issue acceptable to all parties," Nocholay said.

The letter was signed by the 26 asylum seekers who included a number of women, named Ermilinda da Cruz, Maria Theresia, Sahelinda Fernandez and Rita do Santos.

No illegal immigrants

Nocholay said the East Timorese asylum seekers were not illegal immigrants who must be deported by force. "They are political victims of the past and therefore they are not illegal immigrants," Nocholay said.

According to Nocholay, the East Timorese asylum seekers were supporters of the wide-ranging autonomy option in the popular consultation in the former Indonesian province in 1999.

He pointed out the 26 East Timorese asylum seekers also had human rights and dignity and thus they had a right to be protected by both national and international laws.

Nocholay made the remarks in response to a plan of East Nusa Tenggara security agencies to deport the 26 East Timorese asylum seekers by force on the ground they were illegal immigrants who had no official documents.

He called on the Indonesian government to make a prudent decision on the fate of the 26 East Timorese asylum seekers.