The arrival of United Nations mandated troops and warships in East Timor yesterday was greeted ecstatically by the few people who remain in the devastated capital Dili, as a concrete symbol that at last international help has arrived to underwrite their independence from Indonesia. It was indeed an important moment, as is graphically reported in this newspaper today. But even if the UN force is able to function unmolested by Indonesian military or militia forces - still a large assumption - the task facing it and the international community which willed it into being is a colossal and long-term one.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, cited "evidence of a well-planned and systematic policy of killings, displacement, destruction of property and intimidation" in her statement to the Security Council last week. She has quite justifiably demanded an investigation by an international war crimes tribunal. Fears are growing that hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee to the mountains are in danger of starvation, that a similar number displaced to camps in West Timor are also under threat and that it will take many years to repair the wanton destruction visited upon the territory in a few terrifying days.
That so much of this could and should have been foreseen by the United Nations and the major powers which determine its policies is also increasingly recognised. They now have a real obligation to provide resources for reconstruction, recuperation, political transition and long term development of East Timor. They will also need to maintain pressure on the Indonesian government to prevent the military fanning a wave of xenophobia intended to subvert the UN mission and the transition to independence. Indonesia's own transition to democratic rule is still threatened by the same forces that have so devastated East Timor - as is its basic political unity.
The multinational force is led by Australians, along with a combat group of Thai troops and a selection of contingents from other Asian and international forces, including one from Ireland when that it approved by the Dail. The intervention is setting a precedent for members of the Asean regional bloc, which has set such store by the principle of non-interference in sovereign national affairs. Many of them, such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma, are reluctant to become involved or to commit combat troops; but there is a also a desire to counter-balance Australia's involvement, expressed by Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
The Thais, British Gurkhas, Australian Maoris and Chinese police will ensure the UN force is not an all-white body, recalling colonial times. The more regional forces involved the better, given the importance and legitimacy of the project involved. This is a UN-mandated multinational force, which will be superseded later this year by a UN peacekeeping one. It is to be hoped that this will have a broader Asian participation; but in the light of the daunting tasks facing the troops who arrived in East Timor yesterday it will clearly need a robust mandate as well as substantial and long term resources.