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Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy on the violence in West Timor |
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| Friday, 24 September 1999: UNICEF is very alarmed
about the continued violence and threats to East Timorese who have fled to West
Timor and urges immediate action to ensure safe access to the displaced
populations by humanitarian organisations. We are particularly concerned about reports of continued killings of civilians, including children and women, by anti-independence militia groups who have seized control of refugee camps along the border between East and West Timor. The militias are reported to be seeking out those who supported East Timor's recent vote for independence. In West Timor and surrounding islands, the number of displaced people is reported to have reached 214,000 with 30,000 under-five year olds, 12,000 under-two year olds and almost 6,000 pregnant women. Camps are overcrowded and poor sanitation is a serious problem. Outbreaks of malaria, diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections are feared. We call on the government of Indonesia, as a matter of extreme urgency, to take immediate steps to disarm all militia groups and any others who intend harm to people in the camps of West Timor. Reports of an agreement today between the Indonesian government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which would give UNHCR staff safe access to the camps are a positive development. The United Nations humanitarian organisations must be provided unhindered access for their staff and safe conditions to do so. The paramount goal in both West and East Timor is the restoration of a climate of personal security so that all displaced people can make free choices regarding their future and effectively exercise these choices. |
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