The operation to repatriate East Timorese refugees from Indonesian West Timor has begun. The first group arrived in the East Timor capital Dili after they were flown in by the United Nations Refugee Agency. A second group will leave later today. The refugees disembarked at Dili airport in a state of high emotion. Many wept openly, saying that they were overjoyed to be home. At a stadium where other displaced East Timorese are already housed, officials from the UNHCR and other bodies carried out medical checks and distributed provisions. Speaking of their experiences in the refugee camps in West Timor, the refugees said that pro-Jakarta militiamen had tried to convince them not to return home because their families had been murdered. They said that they feared for the safety of many of the young men who were still in the camps.
The repatriation agreement reached with the Indonesian government does not appear to extend to the camps near the border between West and East Timor, where about 130,000 people are being held virtually as hostages by the same militia groups who drove them from their homes in the first place.
