Dili: a deserted city, people feel "at war"
After huge protests within the army against the military leadership, the situation in East Timor has declined rapidly, with daily shootouts. At least 20,000 "terrorized"people have sought refuge in villages, in parishes and in schools. The Church has called for calm. There may be military intervention by Australia and New Zealand.
Dili (AsiaNews) The houses in Dili are empty. Among people, there is the sensation of being at war. Thousands have left their homes in search of a safer place, "terrorized" by the violence that for weeks has rocked the young state of East Timor. This is how Dili is now, according to Francis Suni, a young father of a family who spoke to AsiaNews from the capital, highlighting the "very tense" situation gripping the country since the end of April.
The unrest broke out after the desertion of 600 soldiers, one-third of the armed forces. They quit in protest against what they claimed was ethnic discrimination. The "deserters" come from the west part of the island while the military leadership comes from the east. After the protest, the government sacked the insurgents who stationed themselves with arms in the hills around Dili.
"Today we can still hear loud shots. For two days, the clashes between the ex military troops and the regular army have been going on, mostly on the outskirts of the city. But people are terrorized and escaping en masse," said Francis. Yesterday, in two different attacks launched by the ex soldiers against regular troops, at least two people were killed. On 28 April, when the protest started, popular unrest in the capital left five people dead and sparked the flight of at least 20,000 people towards rural areas. A local Verbite priest said: "People are going back to their villages of origin or else they are asking for refuge in parishes and Catholic schools."
The crisis has deep roots
Analysts on site interviewed by AsiaNews said: "The problem has deeper roots, which can be traced especially to popular discontent about the premier, Mari Alkatiri, a Muslim who does not represent the Catholic majority country, and to lacking internal collaboration between parties in the government." To this may be added social tensions among ethnic groups and criticism against those in power for the poverty continuing to plague the country.
Some members of Fretilin the majority party, to which the prime minister belongs say Alkatiri should resign for his poor handling of the revolt. "A change in the government would not resolve the crisis," warned the analysts. "People could continue to be dissatisfied. And anyhow, there is only a year to wait for the next general election. What the country needs now is the intervention of aid agencies to help the people."
Foreign forces' intervention taking shape
A local journalist said: "Probably, if things continue like this, the government will call for the intervention of Australia and New Zealand, which have already declared their availability. But this move would be a mistake." The decision is an not easy one to take because "right now even civilians belonging to different ethnic groups are fighting and there are many weapons in circulation." A source of AsiaNews added: "Outside intervention would make the situation worse, our army has sufficient forces to calm the revolt and anyhow, the path of negotiations remains."
As a precaution, Australia already last week placed war ships with 1100 soldiers on board in its northern waters, ready to intervene "whenever requested by Dili and the United Nations". Even New Zealand will send troops if requested, and meanwhile it is planning the possible evacuation of its nationals. The US embassy has already evacuated as have Australian personnel who are "not indispensable in the area". Also on alert is Portugal that colonised East Timor from on the 1600s to 1975, the year of the Indonesian invasion.
For the time being, President Xanana Gusmao has not taken any decisions, but he has sworn to capture those behind the violence.
The Church
The Catholic Church, which played a fundamental role in East Timor's struggle for independence from Indonesia in 1999, did not say anything outright until yesterday, when the Bishop of Baucau launched an appeal to the nation. Mgr Basilio do Nascimento called for an end to the violence, already experienced much in the past. Between 1975 and 1999, Jakarta's army used torture and committed rape against the people of East Timor, killing tens of thousands of civilians.
A priest from the diocese of Dili said all the church can do for the moment is to be close to the displaced people. He added: "East Timor needs peace to grow gradually; there are many youth and they want to study in their country, hoping to improve it."
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