98 Percent of East Timor Refugees Opt to Stay in Indonesia
19 November 2003 14:49 WIB
Djoko explained that 113,495 of 295,744 people have franchise. Of those who have franchise 111,537 people (98.02%) voted to keep staying in Indonesia, 1,250 people (1.1%) voted to go back to East Timor, and 708 people (0.6%) abstained from voting. “The government takes the responsibility of handling the refugees that vote to keep staying in Indonesia,” Djoko said.
One of the government’s policies to handle the East Timor refugees after the registration, Djok said, is to hold a resettlement program in some provinces, including East Nusa Tenggara. In order to ensure that this program is successful, the government should observe certain conditions, such as choosing places where there are opportunities for development, economic recovery and growth, and where local people will receive the refugees willingly so that new conflicts won’t be created.
In 2001, Djoko said, the government will open new areas for settlement in East Nusa Tenggara for 1050 households and give aid to 600 households to build houses.
Djoko then added that East Nusa Tenggara only has capacity for 600 households while 34,845 households want to keep staying in Indonesia. Manpower and Transmigration Department and Department of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure need five years to complete their program to handle this problem. “So, besides East Nusa Tenggara, other provinces should make space for refugees that want to keep staying in Indonesia,” Djoko said.
