By Richard Galpin

United Nations officials in East Timor have told a visiting delegation from the UN Security Council that militia gangs are still intimidating refugees who wish to return home from camps in West Timor. There is also evidence that the military has been charging East Timorese refugees to escort them back across the border.

The delegation is in the region to assess whether the Indonesian Government has implemented a UN Security Council resolution passed in September demanding the disarmament and disbanding of the militias, which have been controlling the refugee camps in West Timor for more than a year. The camps are home to more than 100,000 East Timorese refugees.

The Security Council delegation spent Monday in the town of Suai, on the border with West Timor. Many of the refugees who do manage to return to East Timor arrive here. Since September about 200 have crossed the border.

But in a briefing to the Security Council delegation a UN refugee official, Joan Allison, said it was clear from interviews with the returnees that the militias were still at large in the camps. Ms Allison said the militias had been threatening to attack any refugees who wished to return home, saying they would hunt them down across the border. She also said a campaign of disinformation was continuing, with the militias telling the refugees there was no food or shelter in East Timor, so they were better off staying in the Indonesian half of the island.

Payment

There is also evidence the Indonesian military has been demanding money and other forms of payment for helping refugee families back across the border.

The Security Council delegation is due to fly to West Timor on Tuesday to see for itself the situation in the refugee camps. Their assessment of what progress has been made by the Indonesian authorities in dealing with the militias will be critical in determining the next step by the UN.

The delegation will be reporting back to the Security Council next Monday. But the team leader, Martin Andjaba, refused to be drawn on the issue. He said they would not make any judgements until they completed their visit to West Timor over the next two days.

UN sources have indicated that the Security Council is unlikely to take further overt action against Indonesia over the militias. Instead, they say that pressure to ensure the remaining East Timorese refugees are able to return home is more likely to be applied through quieter, diplomatic channels.