Subject: 'austraLasia' #244
TIMOR ROUNDUP: GOOD NEWS AND SOME A LITTLE DISQUIETING
Julian Fox
Using the resources of ANS and some other sources (it gets a little
'circular' at times, since ANS also uses the resources of 'austraLasia'!) I
can report on the following detailed information regarding our confreres and
their circumstances in East Timor, and from sources which are perhaps a
little more opinion than fact oriented, but should be listened to, some
disquieting news about the targetting of Religious who have remained close
to the people.
Sept 29: Fr. Andrew Wong, Provincial, arrived in Jakarta, and was able to
speak by phone with both Fr. Vecchi and Fr. Van Looy. He claimed to be in
good health himself (though undoubtedly marked by the stress and difficulty
of the past few weeks)and indicated he would be returning to Dili as soon as
possible. Of the Salesians still in Timor he could say that they were all
o.k. and those in the eastern section it would appear had returned to their
communities. This information is confirmed from other information received
by 'austraLasia'. The orphanage at Los Palos has received some damage, the
extent is not really known at this stage.
Further confirmation of all this came by way of a successful phone call to
the Sisters in Dili. Fr. Locatelli has arrived there from Fatumaca (the
first real contact with a Salesian from the eastern part)and confirmed the
well-being of confreres from that area.
The Salesian House in Dili has effectively been burnt down. The school has
not suffered quite so badly - classrooms usable - and the chapel and parish
church were not touched. The kids dorm and services belonging to the
Salesians themselves, including the residence, are damaged beyond repair.
At present it is the French soldiers from INTERFET who are using the school
rooms temporarily partly as a hospital, while the rest is used for
distribution of food and goods.
BISHOP BELO has left Rome and returned to Portugal where he is busy working
at diplomatic levels to alert that country and many others to the needs of
East Timor. On 27th September he made a four day visit to Germany, meeting
with the Bishops Conference there, with Misereor and Missio and with
politicans at the highest level, including the Chancellor Herr Schroeder and
Foreign Minister Fischer. Bishop Belo likened the situation in East Timor
at the moment to the circumstances of immediate post-war Germany.
On 30th September Bishop Belo returned to Portugal. He is expected in
Darwin on 3rd October and from there will return to Dili. To questions by
journalists as to a possible political role for him in independent Timor,
Bishop Belo replied he would prefer to be a simple missionary in Africa if
it came to that!
MORE DISQUIETING NEWS comes through a member of the Australian Conference of
Religious (ACLRI)Sr. Cathy O'Keefe, who quotes a 'reliable source' as saying
that news has come in of 'permission' from the Indonesian military to wipe
out Religious who have remained close to the people. She cites the ambush
and massacre of a convoy including two Canossian Sisters as an example of
this continuing violence directed towards clergy and Religious.
>From UNCHR news, there is concern that the camps in West Timor (Atambua,
Kupang,Belu and Timor Tengah Utara) are overcrowded and controlled by the
militia. "Pro-integrationist militias control many of the camps. Access to
the camps is limited to non-western staff of international NGOs,hampering
efforts to assess humanitarian conditions". UNHCR reports that militias are
preventing IDPs from returning home. [IDP refers to displaced persons, a
technical term for refugees]
- The UN World Food Program (WFP) estimates that 740,000 East Timorese,out
of a total population of 890,000, will require food aid in the next six
months. Of this number, 590,000 people (490,000 IDPs and 100,000 expected
returnees) will require full rations, while an additional 150,000 IDPs will
require half rations.
INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS provides regular updates of its activities. Some of
these and the information about the situation in various parts of Timor will
be of interest to readers so I quote them here:
- for the sick and wounded
The Norwegian Red Cross field hospital has been set up at the civilian
hospital in Dili. Its surgical component is now functioning (the equipment
has been used to refurbish two operating theatres and the emergency room
in the hospital and x-ray equipment has been installed) and it is hoped
that the laboratory/pathology department will be set up by 30 September.
The remainder of the material supplied with the field hospital will be
mobilized at a later date. Although other medical operations are well into
the planning stages, the ICRC facility is currently the only one capable
of providing general hospital facilities in East Timor.
With the support of local staff, the expatriate team (surgeon,
anaesthetist, general practitioner, medical administrator and five nurses)
is treating four people evacuated by the ICRC from Dare, and injured
people brought in by INTERFET troops. The team is treating 60 people in
all, including 40 patients who were already in the hospital before the
ICRC assumed responsibility there.
ICRC medical personnel visited the clinic in Dare (where an average of 50
people are seeking medical help on a daily basis) and delivered some
medical items for paediatric care. Four seriously wounded people were
evacuated to the civilian hospital in Dili for treatment by the ICRC
surgical team.
A cause for concern is the substantial health risk arising from a number
of corpses in Dili, some in an advanced state of decomposition, which have
not yet been collected or identified. A procedure has now been put in
place. INTERFET will collect the bodies and register and record their
details. The ICRC is not involved in any form of enquiry and its
participation is limited to assisting with transportation to either the
mortuary or burial site and organizing a brief memorial service.
- for civilians
Civilians are beginning to return to Dili in larger numbers. In one
section of the town, between 3,000 and 5,000 people returned between 27
and 28 September, placing a significant strain on distribution networks.
Four relief distribution points have now been identified and items will be
distributed by a partnership of Church and local leaders.
Four field trips have been made to Dare area during the course of the last
week, where some 60,000 people are in an extremely precarious situation. A
limited amount of food assistance has been delivered in the form of
high-protein biscuits. This was in an attempt to supplement the dwindling
supplies of the most needy displaced people. Whilst stocks of fruit and
vegetables are also coming to an end, many people expressed a need for
supplies of rice. Shelter is not a critical problem for the time being but
could become so within the next three weeks with the onset of the rainy
season. Following discussions with INTERFET representatives and local
community leaders, the ICRC has undertaken to truck supplies of water to
several strategic points along the route between Dare and outlying areas
where civilians have been seeking refuge in order to facilitate their
journey back to the town.
Attempts are still being made to reach civilians in the Bacau area. A
plane loaded with a land cruiser, medical aid and 3 mt rice, was unable to
land at the airport there on 28 September because it proved impossible to
establish radio contact on the ground. The plane was forced to return to
its base in Dili but will make a further attempt today.
In West Timor
The ICRC/PMI team is continuing its work for the displaced people from
East Timor lodged in temporary camps. Needs remain great. All available
ICRC relief items have been distributed but a plane from Surabaya will
deliver 3 mt rice, jerry cans, cooking pots and tarpaulins today. From
then on, regular airlifts of supplies will be made to Kupang for onward
transport to Atambua.
Supplies
The boat from Surabaya with 750 mt of food supplies and 50 mt non-food
items, together with the boat from Darwin with the Norwegian Red Cross
field hospital, trucks, non-food and water and sanitation material have
all arrived in Dili. The boat from Surabaya will remain offshore to be
unloaded as and when stocks are required.
ICRC protection activities
Thousands of families have been separated during the events of the last
few weeks and have few possibilities of staying in touch with them -- or
even finding them. The ICRC set up a tracing office in Dili on 28
September and has already collected 230 Red Cross messages from people
anxious to contact their relatives who fled East Timor. Some have also
been able to contact relatives abroad with the help of a satellite phone
which they are able to use for a period of three-minutes. A tracing
delegate will arrive in Kupang on 29 September to set up a plan of action
for tracing and protection activities in West Timor.
Meetings have been held with various members of INTERFET, including the
chief legal officer, with a view to obtaining access to people detained in
relation to the troubles. As a result of these meetings, the ICRC visited
four people on 26 September and a further 20 today.
This has been a long bulletin of information! An excellent source for you
to follow ongoing events, along with opinion from major press outlets in
English is Fr. Richard Gant SOLT who runs a website dedicated to the East
Timor situation from out of Texas. I take this opportunity to congratulate
Richard and his Congregation for the work they are doing to sensitize people
to the tragedy of Timor. You can find the site at http://www.solt3.org
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