October 23, 2000
The Indonesian government has invited the United Nations Security Council to observe the progress in implementing U.N. Resolution 1319 on disarming and disbanding the East Timorese militia in East Nusa Tenggara province, Foreign Affairs Minister Alwi Shihab told reporters here Monday. The U.N. issued the resolution following the attack on the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Atambua, a border town in West Timor, on September 6, which killed three U.N. employees. The militia has been blamed for the attack.
Shihab visited the U.N. headquarters in New York on October 12 to report on the progress made by the government in implementing the U.N. resolution. He said most of the U.N. Security Council members gave a positive response to his report.
The minister stressed that the upcoming visit of the U.N. delegation to Atambua is based on Indonesia's invitation. The visit is not to investigate the killing of U.N. employees, he said after a coordinating meeting on economic affairs here.
The minister said the Atambua case has only dealt with refugees -- a problem which could happen to any country. "Refugees are not only Indonesia's problem. It is a general one which must be settled by the world community," he said.
The East Timorese militia and many refugees entered Indonesia last year in the wake of a U.N.-sponsored direct ballot during which most of East Timorese voted in favor of independence from Indonesia.
Shihab said the United States and European countries have extended 40 million U.S. dollars in grants to help settle problems on East Timorese refugees still staying in East Nusa Tenggara.
There are about 29,000 families of East Timorese refugees -- about 130,000 people -- living in camps in the province now.
