Almost all new initiatives in the modern world come first from NGOs, not
from governments, and certainly not from the media.
So listen up!...
12 midday, Friday, in your city, Rally for East Timor. (Melbourne at GPO)
--- Fowarded Message ---
URGENT MEMO ON HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN WEST TIMOR
Pat Walsh, Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA), Melbourne
Wednesday, 8 September 1999
The extreme violence and chaos in East Timor is creating refugee movements
and humanitarian problems reminiscent of 1975, and has spilled over into
Muslim West Timor. Urgent initiatives are needed to provide for the
displaced and to protect human rights.
1. Current situation
It is very difficult to establish the facts. Following are some aspects:
* Kompas (today) reported 46,600 refugees in West Timor. Few aid agencies
are believed to have been able to visit camps. The numbers are expected to
continue increasing.
* ACFOA contacts in Kupang put refugee numbers at Noelbaki (about 29 km
from Kupang) at 11,000. Militias control this camp. Local NGOs cannot visit
and yesterday Kompas reported that three aid workers (said to be Australian
and Dutch) were badly beaten and their car burned when trying to deliver
rice for UNHCR at Noelbaki camp.
* Media report a 'milk run' of 'thousands' of refugees arriving by truck,
ship and plane from East Timor.
* The mood in West Timor is very hostile to Westerners and journalists who
are being advised locally to stay indoors. Tourists are leaving.
* Militias have accompanied the refugees, have compiled lists of names and
are active in Kupang. Pro-independence East Timorese feel unsafe and are
trying to leave. Pro and anti-integration supporters are being thrown
together, heightening the possibilities of intimidation and violence. A
refugee who arrived in Kupang today by boat reports 4 pro-independence
supporters being executed en route from Dili and tossed overboard.
* There are also reports of a large area east of Atambua being cleared of
inhabitants leading to speculation that concentration camps are being
established.
2. Agencies on the ground
� AusAID made a recent assessment visit to West Timor before the ballot and
will presumably report on this visit at this Friday's briefing for
Australian agencies in Canberra.
� ICRC has a delegate currently in West Timor organising the distribution of
aid.
� The UNHCR representative for Asia-Pacific was in West Timor yesterday
surveying the situation.
� World Vision Australia has launched an appeal and relief activities are
being launched in the border areas of West Timor. World Vision has relief
supplies in Kupang and 1400MT of rice en route from Jakarta. Suppliers in
Darwin have also been contacted with a view to procurement.
� Austcare will mount an aid appeal this week for Caritas assistance to the
internally displaced.
� Oxfam Australia (CAA) is monitoring the situation and providing assistance
through Kupang. The Oxfam representative in Atambua puts Internally
Displaced Persons (IDP) estimates at 30,000 there.
� Local agencies in West Timor include the following
- BK3S (Umbrella body, Kupang)
- Yayasan Alpha Omega (Kupang)
- Yayasan Pikul (Kupang. Tel 62 380 826 712)
- Posko Kupang (also working in Atambua. Tel 62 380 827 817)
- Pusat Informasi Rakyat (PIR, Kupang)
- Tananua (Kupang)
- Yayasan Masyarakat Sejahtera (Yasmara, Kupang)
- Geomeno (Kefa, near Atambua)
- Yayasan Timor Membangun (Kefa)
- Catholic Church Delsos
- Protestant Church agencies
Because of the threats and hostility to 'white' personnel, it may be
necessary to try to monitor and deliver assistance through these local NGOs
and networks.
3. Recommendations
In general, all emergency humanitarian and human rights agencies who have
been operating in East Timor should be encouraged to provide emergency
assistance to IDPs in West Timor. This might involve re-deployment of
expatriate staff who have been forced to leave East Timor and are now in
Darwin or elsewhere.
� Agencies attending the AusAID consultation in Canberra on Friday to ask
AusAID to provide assistance and, if necessary and possible, to make another
assessment visit.
� An international NGO delegation of aid and human rights organisations be
put together at the INFID Conference (Bali, next week) to make an assessment
visit to West Timor following the conference.
� UNHCR to be encouraged to establish an urgent program in West Timor. UNHCR
acted as lead agency on humanitarian affairs in East Timor and has a large
office in Jakarta.
� Possible redeployment to West Timor of ICRC staff forcibly removed from
East Timor and now in Darwin.
� Encourage human rights organisations to be encouraged to monitor and
report on human rights in West Timor.
� Support local NGOs and Churches in West Timor to provide aid.
It is generally recommended that human rights experts should be permitted to
enter East Timor with the international peacekeeping force, if and when that
happens. The sacking of East Timor and vandalising of its people should be
comprehensively and independently documented as in Kosovo when NATO troops
entered after the cessation of the bombing campaign.
Pat Walsh
8 September
tat.wtimor.doc
---
Received: from spoke.minihub.org (spoke.minihub.org [203.43.84.21])
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.3 (32)
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 17:21:41 +1000
To: ACFOA Members
From: Sharmini <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: NGO activity on East Timor
Dear AETWG and AIWG members,
Attached please find a statement released yesterday by Indonesian NGOs
concerning East Timor, an ACFOA press release concerning the statement, and
an updated list of NGOs running appeals for East Timor.
Regards,
Carson for Pat Walsh
Attachment Converted: C:\DEV\INTERNET\ATTACHME.NTS\NGOAPPEA.doc
Attachment Converted: C:\DEV\INTERNET\ATTACHME.NTS\NGOJoint.doc
Attachment Converted: C:\DEV\INTERNET\ATTACHME.NTS\INFIDSTA.doc
--- text of INFIDSTA.doc ---
NEWS FAX
9 September 1999
35/99
INDONESIAN GROUPS CALL FOR PEACEKEEPERS FOR EAST TIMOR
The Australian Council for Overseas Aid is concerned at mounting
anti-Indonesian sentiment in Australia as a result of the situation in East
Timor.
We have just received a press statement issued by a coalition of Indonesia's
leading non-government organisations. The signatories represent a range of
sectors and religions, led by the International NGO Forum on Indonesian
Development (INFID), a peak body coordinating national and international NGO
activity in Indonesia.
These organisations urge the Indonesian Government to accept the outcome of
the popular consultation on East Timor, and call on the UN Security Council
to urgently decide to send peacekeeping troops to East Timor.
They also call for a lifting of martial law in East Timor and for the
Government of Indonesia to stop the violence and arrest armed militias.
Janet Hunt, Executive Director of the Australian Council for Overseas Aid,
welcomed the statement and said,
" A statement like this highlights the fact that many ordinary Indonesians
do not accept this military action in East Timor, and abhor the increasing
reassertion of military power in Jakarta. The democratisation of Indonesia
is very fragile at this time."
"Simplistic anti-Indonesian sentiments are misguided. Let us be clear that
it is military power in Indonesia which is the problem, not the people of
that country."
"Many Indonesians showed support for the Timorese people by acting as
civilian ballot observers."
Two page statement attached
Contact: Janet Hunt : (02) 6285 1816 (w); (02) 6281 0252; 0411 868 174 (mob)
--- text of NGOJoint.doc ---
NGO Joint Statement on East Timor
INFID, ELSAM, KALYANAMITRA, YLBHI, LERAI, KPI-KD, SPRIM, Crisis Centre PGI,
Ikatan Jurnalis Televisi Indonesia, PWI Reformasi, JKLPK, FORTILOS, TRUK,
P3M, Aliansi Jurnalis Indonesia
The Secretary General of the United Nations has announced the result of the
East Timor Popular Consultation on September 4, 1999, which clearly shows
that the majority of East Timorese (79%) opted for independence. The result
of the direct ballot demonstrates that 344,580 people or 79% of East
Timorese opted for independence, and the remaining 21% or 94,388 East
Timorese wanted special autonomy.
The people of Indonesia and the Government of Indonesia should respect the
result of the popular consultation. The Government of Indonesia should take
necessary steps to comply with the New York Agreement, signed on May 5,
1999, which is legally binding. Article 6 of the New York Agreement states:
"If the Secretary General determines, on the basis of the result of the
popular consultation and in accordance with this Agreement, that the
proposed constitutional framework for special autonomy is not acceptable to
the East Timorese People, the Government of Indonesia shall take the
constitutional steps necessary to terminate its links with East Timor, thus
restoring under Indonesian law the status of East Timor held prior to 17
July 1976, and the Governments of Indonesia and Portugal and the
Secretary-General shall agree on arrangements for a peaceful and orderly
transfer of authority in East Timor to the United Nations. The Secretary -
General shall, subject to the appropriate legislative mandate, initiate the
procedure enabling East Timor to begin a process of transition towards
independence."
However, after the result of the ballot was announced, violence in East
Timor escalated. More than one hundred people were killed, many were wounded
and thousands have left East Timor and many more are still fleeing in fear
of the violence. The violence was as such that volunteers and journalists
who were monitoring the popular consultation had to also leave East Timor.
On September 7, 1999, The Chief Commander of the Armed Forces, General
Wiranto, declares martial law in East Timor.
The escalation of violence and declaration of martial law clearly show the
inability of the Indonesian Government and the Indonesian Armed Forces to
restore peace and order in East Timor.
Based on these facts, we call that:
1. The Secretary General of the United Nations immediately hold a Security
Council meeting to decide on the sending of Peace Keeping Forces to East Timor;
2. The Government of Indonesia should take concrete steps to stop the
violence in East Timor and shows its sincerity and neutrality to act as a
facilitator in this transition period in East Timor. This should be done by
complying with the New York Agreement and be materialised in concrete
actions by arresting armed militias who created and provoked the violence in
East Timor.
3. The Indonesian Armed Forces and the Government of Indonesia should
immediately lift the martial law in East Timor. We would like to remind the
Indonesian Government that East Timor has been stated as non-self-governing
territory ever since Popular Consultation to determine the future of East
Timor was announced on April 21, 1999, which would be carried out under the
supervision of the United Nations Peace Commission. Therefore, the
declaration of martial law in East Timor is a violation.
Signed and released in Jakarta, September 8, 1999 by:
INFID, ELSAM, KALYANAMITRA, YLBHI, LERAI, KPI-KD, SPRIM, Crisis Centre PGI,
Ikatan Jurnalis Televisi Indonesia, PWI Reformasi, JKLPK, FORTILOS, TRUK,
P3M, Aliansi Jurnalis Indonesia
Translation of ACRONYMS/NAMES (added by ACFOA)
The International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), Institute for
Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM),
Kalyanamitra, Women's Advocacy Forum,
The Legal Aid Foundation of Indonesia (YLBHI)
The Institute for Ethnic Conflict Resolution (LERAI)
East Timor Support Group (KPI-KD), the
Protestant Church Crisis Centre (Crisis Centre PGI)
Reformed Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI Reformasi),
Christian Workers Support Network(JKLPK)
The East Timor Solidarity Forum (Fortilos)
The Volunteers Team for Humanity (TRUK)
The Moslem Schools Development Association (P3M)
The Independent Journalists Alliance.
--- text of NGOAPPEA.doc ---
NGO APPEALS FOR EAST TIMOR
Updated 9/9/99 (16:16 AEST)
Tax deductible cash donations are being accepted by many NGOs including:
v ADRA Australia 1800 242 372
v Apheda (Union Aid Abroad) 1300 362 223 (9am-5pm)
v AFAP/Timor Aid 1800 007 308
v Austcare 1800 244 450
v Australian Baptist World Aid (02) 94511199
v Australian Red Cross 1800 811 700
v Australian Volunteers International (03) 9279 1788
v CARE Australia 1800 020 046
v Community Aid Abroad-Oxfam in Australia 1800 034 034
v Caritas Australia 1800 024 413
v National Council of Churches in Australia 1800 025 101
v World Vision 13 32 40
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ET: Refugee Humanitarian Crisis Spilled Over into West Timor + Indonesian NGO initiatives + Australian NGO Appeals
Adam Tiller ACF-PGAN Thu, 9 Sep 1999 18:47:09 +1000 (GMT+1000)
