UN Emergency Expert Visits East Timor Amid Violence and Struggle for Survival

As the UN prepares to deploy an international force to restore order in East Timor, a UN emergency expert has traveled out of the capital to visit the largest concentration of refugees, finding them struggling to survive on minimal aid. The Security Council has approved the deployment of up to 8,000 soldiers and equipment from over a dozen countries, with orders to end the violence and safeguard the return of aid workers. Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas has indicated that Indonesia recognizes the East Timorese vote for independence and may soon accept the results, which could lead to a larger administrative role for the UN.

Key Takeaways:

• The UN emergency expert found refugees struggling to survive on rice handouts from the military, with many children lacking milk and medicines for diseases such as diarrheal diseases and malaria.
• A tentative calm prevailed in Dili after the Security Council vote, but human rights groups and relief agencies fear they will find evidence of many killings when they return to the territory.
• The Red Cross hopes to return to Dili as early as Thursday to assess damages and loss of life, while the World Food Program is assembling a chartered helicopter fleet for food drops and experimenting with a "snow-drop" system.
• Indonesian officials are now working with the UN to transfer power in the territory, which Indonesia seized in 1975, with the new session of the Indonesian Parliament opening on October 1.
• Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Ali Alatas, has said that Indonesian troops in East Timor will be under international command and will serve in an advisory or liaison role, with no combat role.

Statistics:

• 50,000 displaced East Timorese are living in the town of Dare, equivalent to half the population of the capital.
• 6 tons of rice are being delivered daily to people hiding in the surrounding hills.
• The UN sex force will comprise up to 8,000 soldiers and equipment from over a dozen countries.
• 350,000 plastic packets of high-energy crackers or cookies will be scattered from the air over inaccessible regions of East Timor.

Sources:

• Reuters, September 19, 1999
• The New York Times, September 19, 1999
• UN Press Release, September 1999
• Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, quoted in The New York Times, September 19, 1999
• United Nations emergency expert Kevin M. Kennedy, quoted in Reuters, September 19, 1999
• World Food Program officials, quoted in The New York Times, September 19, 1999