East Timorese refugees in West Timor

Abstract

The information in ‘East Timorese refugees in West Timor’, dealing with the East Timorese refugees’ settlement in West Timor and repatriation to East Timor, is based on the author’s observations in the field as a medical officer working together with eleven doctors from Yogyakarta in the refugee camps along the border between West and East Timor from October 1999. As well as references to refugees’ own accounts, the chapter covers issues of dispersal, the camps, self-help projects in the camps, the Indonesian government’s response to the camps, conditions in the camps: violence and health, and the repatriation of refugees. The information was gathered through in-depth interviews with refugees, priests, nuns, militia leaders as well as with Indonesian military and civilian leaders.