Precedence: bulk UN staff sign petition against evacuation Source: AAP | Published: Thursday September 9 7:15:29 AM United Nations staff have signed a petition against being airlifted out of Dili, fearing the people they leave behind in the UN compound will be slaughtered, International Federation of Journalists spokeswoman Heather Patterson said today. The UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) originally planned to withdraw from Dili today amid reports of the deteriorating security situation, but overnight a decision was taken to delay the evacuation by 24 hours. Patterson said the 370 UN staff were mortified by news of forced evacuation. "There is a petition going around, people are signing it, against their forced evacuation from Dili," she told ABC Radio from inside the compound. "The UN staff are just horrified by what's going on and they're horrified at what could happen. Very few people believe that Indonesia will live up to its side of the bargain and protect the people of East Timor. "The word is there will be a massacre." Patterson said UNAMET staff felt as if they would be betraying East Timorese people by leaving. "Very few people here really want to leave because they know that these people are being left alone and helpless," she said. Patterson said she had cried with refugees as they heard of the planned departure. "Mothers clutching their babies are in tears," she said. "I held a small East Timorese child not long ago and he was just so beautiful and I looked into his eyes and thought how much the international community is betraying him and his future." Patterson said once UNAMET left the refugees would flee, believing they would be slaughtered if they stayed in the compound. ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
