Three Indonesian soldiers escort journalists visiting the Tuapukan camp for East Timorese refugees on the outskirts of the West Timorese capital, Kupang. Tension hangs over the slum of huts made of palm leaves and plastic sheets provided by aid agencies. In makeshift dens basic products such as soap, eggs and oil are sold. Refugees walk in and out. But due to the volatile atmosphere, Western reporters are told before entering not to disclose their identities.
A group of five militants are positioned under a bamboo shed. The Timorese interpreter avoids them. Hard-core militias hate whites, whom they associate with the UN that organised the referendum last August. The Indonesia-backed militia groups are part of the pro-autonomy movement that lost the vote, when 78.5 per cent of the East Timorese voted for independence. In the weeks following the referendum the Indonesian army and collaborating militia took revenge, destroying 70 per cent of East Timor, killing hundreds of people and forcing thousands of East Timorese to neighbouring West Timor.
Maria (31) opens the curtain that serves as the door of her hardboard barracks-style shelter. Being a widow, she stays with her brother's family and 10,000 other East Timorese refugees in Tuapukan camp, which accommodates mainly East Timorese who are serving in the Indonesian army or militia.
UNHCR staff responsible for repatriation don't enter the camp without a military escort. In the latest incident two Timorese were killed in Tuapukan - one of the most notorious of the 200 refugees camps in West Timor.
Maria answers questions nervously. Through the thin walls neighbours and the three soldiers outside can hear every word she utters. "I'm fine," she says, in her shelter where the humidity reaches extremes. But her home in East Timor was made of concrete. In Tuapukan she has only a mattress, some bags with clothes and cooking material. Maria voted for autonomy and has no idea when she will return to East Timor.
UNHCR's massive information campaign explaining that East Timor is basically safe enough to return to has not reached Maria.
Since October half of the 250,000 East Timorese refugees have returned home. They
managed to escape the campaign of terror the militias and army were waging against pro-independence refugees. According to the latest census by the Indonesian government some 130,000 are still in West Timor, though international organisations suspect that number to be inflated. Since December the repatriation has slowed down dramatically.
Many factors account for the slow return. The intimidation by militias forcing refugees to stay as their power base in West Timor is one element. East Timorese culture, in which people do not take individual decisions but wait for village heads, is another. Furthermore, 12,000 exiled civil servants are still receiving salaries, which they would have to give up on returning to devastated East Timor. East Timor is still facing an emergency situation, with few jobs or schools and no functioning government or justice system. Some East Timorese refugees manage to cross the border to work their lands but make sure to be back for the next food distribution in West Timor.
Most of the exiled autonomy elite can afford to live in houses in West Timorese towns. Most of the lower ranks have ended up in the 200 camps, where life is difficult. Despite relief efforts malnutrition is reported. Since last year more than 1,000 refugees have died, with malaria being one of the main causes of mortality.
But in West Timor, one of the poorest regions of Indonesia, the local population has become increasingly jealous of the East Timorese. In their hearts all Timorese refugees want to go home. But the UNHCR estimates that of the remaining 130,000, only 60,000 will eventually return. The Indonesian government is preparing the transfer of East Timorese military and civil servants to other parts of the archipelago. In West Timor the local government is creating resettlement sites. West Timor may end up accommodating a monster created by the Indonesian army: militias accused of gross human rights violations.