Refugees Daily. UNHCR. Thursday 16 September 1999

EAST TIMOR: AID DELIVERED, FORCE EXPECTED 16 Sep. 99 – The few UN staff remaining in Dili have managed to get two truckloads of food to thousands of refugees hiding from militias in mountains near the town of Dare, reports Reuters. "Two trucks got through to Dare carrying six tonnes of rice yesterday and obviously there is a desperate need for more food up there," said spokesman David Wimhurst. The UN estimates about 50,000 refugees are now in mountains around Dare. An Australian-led UN multinational force is expected in East Timor by the weekend to restore law and order. Aid organisations expect to follow quickly, amid fears hundreds of thousands of refugees are scavenging for food and at risk of disease. The agencies say young children are particularly at risk, from malnutrition and diseases. The New York Times adds UN emergency expert Kevin Kennedy yesterday visited the refugees at Dare and found them struggling to survive on rice handouts from the military. The Times, from among the refugees outside Dili, reports spirits have risen since news arrived of the UN resolution, but dangers remain. Reuters reports Japan today said it would give US$2m in emergency humanitarian aid to refugees in violence-racked East Timor, US$1m through UNHCR and US$1m through WFP. Dili's Catholic bishop, Carlos Belo, in the Washington Post says East Timor is being destroyed while diplomats talk. [U.N. trucks deliver food to E.Timorese refugees – www.reuters.com; United Nations Prepares to Send Peacekeepers Into East Timor – www.nytimes.com; Refugee spies slip back into shattered Dili – www.the-times.co.uk; Japan pledges $2 million aid to E.Timor refugees – www.reuters.com; While Diplomats Talk – www.washingtonpost.com]

EAST TIMOR: AIRDROPS DELAYED - MAYBE 16 Sep. 99 – Air drops of urgently-needed food and medicine for thousands of refugees are being delayed, reports BBC News. Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had hoped the aid drops would begin today, but the Indonesian military had not given guarantees that the planes would not be shot down. He said the difficulties were because clear lines of command were lacking in Indonesia. But Reuters quotes Australian Defence Force Chief Admiral Chris Barrie as saying: "Right now I think it is a plan to drop aid later this afternoon." Reuters also reports Catholic news agency FIDES yesterday said nuns in East Timor warned the Indonesian military plans to bomb refugees as soon as they break cover to search for UN food parcels. FIDES said the claim was backed up by Timorese resistance fighters, who said 60,000 civilians were at risk. Reuters adds WFP said it planned to drop 70 tonnes of high energy biscuits using a new "snow drop" technique, with packages shaped into two wings that help them make a soft landing. [Timor aid drops delayed – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Indonesia plans to bomb E.Timor refugees, nuns say + UN food agency to "snow drop'' food in East Timor – www.reuters.com]

INDONESIA: MEN MISSING, MILITIAS ABUSE EAST TIMORESE 16 Sep. 99 – Canadian ambassador Ken Sunquist, who visited refugee camps in West Timor, sounded the alarm over the absence of men among East Timorese refugees yesterday, reports AFP. "It looked very strange to see maybe 25,000 people in the streets of the camps," and only a "marginal" number of men, he said. Refugees said many men were separated from wives and children at the border by Indonesian soldiers. The Globe and Mail reports Sunquist said thousands of East Timorese men have disappeared en route to refugee camps in West Timor. The Guardian adds UN officials in Dili have been bombarded with calls alleging atrocities in the West Timor camps. Meanwhile AFP reports UNHCR today aired concerns that the aid it wants to send to 150,000 East Timorese refugees in West Timor could end up in the hands of the militias. "We are hearing credible reports that the militia are controlling the camps in West Timor . . . We don't want the same thing that happened in Goma when the UNHCR was criticised for 'feeding the butchers'," said spokesman Fernando del Mundo. [UN observer sounds alarm over absence of men among E. Timor refugees + UNHCR worried about Rwanda-style aid debacle in West Timor – www.afp.com; The chilling disappearance of East Timor's young men – www.theglobeandmail.com; Atrocities reported in West Timor camps – www.newsunlimited.co.uk]

AUSTRALIA: EAST TIMORESE TELL OF TERROR 16 Sep. 99 – A day after they were evacuated from their smouldering homeland, refugees from East Timor told harrowing stories in Darwin yesterday of the terror that followed the province's vote to be independent of Indonesia, reports the New York Times. The Washington Post also carries refugee testimonies from Darwin. Meanwhile AAP reports immigration authorities said Australia would care for East Timorese refugees until they could return home in safety and dignity. Spokeswoman Jennifer Bedlington said safe haven visas issued would provide the East Timorese with security until they were able to return home. "By working closely with the UNHCR and returning people only when UNHCR determines it is possible for people to return to their country of origin in conditions of safety and dignity, they are guaranteed protection," she said. [East Timor Refugees Recall a Wave of Brutality – www.nytimes.com; UN Airlift Saves E. Timor Refugees – www.washingtonpost.com; E.Timor refugees to stay until safe to return – www.aap.com.au]