Ireland's new foreign project: Timor-Leste

Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern named Timor-Leste as a test case for a new Conflict Resolution Unit in his department. The plan is to assist the tiny Asian nation to make the transition to a functioning democracy.

But as RTÉ journalist Anne-Marie Green discovered while travelling with Minister Ahern's entourage, internal divisions and rising tensions have come to the surface since Timor-Leste's independence from Indonesia in 2002.

Flying into the Timorese capital Dili is like an opening scene for the television series 'Lost.' The densely forested mountainous island rises up from the Timor Sea - a lush paradise but with a threatening undercurrent. It could be a mecca for tourists. The hills promise great hiking, the warm sea waters diving and the laid-back culture an interesting alternative to Bali or other resorts in the area. But six years after independence from Indonesia the country's infrastructure cannot cope with its present inhabitants, let alone newcomers who want holiday comfort.

And then there's security. Following the shooting of the President Jose Ramos-Horta earlier this month, hundreds of international troops and police patrol the streets. A state of emergency is in place and an 8pm curfew is strictly enforced. Not the kind of information you want on a holiday brochure.

The attack shook everyone. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao admitted his government had not taken seriously the rebel leader who had been involved in the incident.

'We did not pursue him into the hills. We never saw him as a real threat', he said. The rebels' dispute dates back to the mass sacking of a third of the army in 2006. Their grievance was about discrimination within the ranks between people coming from the east and west of the country.

But the grievance and the resentment run deeper than mere geography. It is, among other things, about who stayed and fought in the resistance against Indonesia and who fled the country. Many of those who left gained an education and skills. When they returned after independence they were therefore qualified to take up positions of power. Those who stayed and fought felt - and feel - sidelined.

Sadly, the benefits of peace have not stretched much beyond the end of hostilities. There has been tremendous international goodwill and over €2.3bn has been poured into the country since 1999. It's hard to see what it has been spent on. Few roads are paved, health education and nutrition are poor. Unemployment is over 80% and around 20,000 young people in a population of less than a million join the labour market every year. Fertility rates are above 8% so the influx of jobseekers into the already strained market will continue.

As you drive through Dili the streets are dotted with gangs of young men hanging around with no apparent purpose. The highest rates of unemployment are among the young. In frustration some of them joined the army rebels in widespread violence two years ago. But that frustration has yet to be tackled.

Money, unusually enough, is not the problem in Timor Leste. International aid still floods in and the Timorese government is taking in $100m (€67m) a month in oil revenues. They have been prudent and have channelled the money into a trust fund drawing down limited funds. But they just can't spend it. Government departments don't function properly. Education is so poor that few people have the skills to do the job. In one case, applications were sought for people to train as accountants for the Department of Finance. When it got to the practical test few of the applicants could calculate a simple fraction.

So no schools get built, no healthcare is put in place, the justice system is weak and crucially no jobs are created. Of all the projects underway in Timor none is a public works initiative that would employ large numbers of the unemployed and defuse some of the tension that risks tipping the country back into violence. Some new aid from Ireland will go towards economic growth and job creation. That has been as a result of lobbying by Tom Hyland, the former Ballyfermot bus driver who started the campaign in Ireland to raise awareness about Indonesian repression in East Timor. Tom now works in the Timorese Foreign Ministry. (Read our special '10 questions with... Tom Hyland')

'Providing jobs is crucial,' he says. 'The other projects and programmes are all important but getting people into work has to be the priority.'

'Most young people want to get out,' he says. 'They want to travel to Australia or former colonial occupier Portugal to work. A large community of Timorese have somehow found their way to Dungannon in County Tyrone to work in the local chicken factory.'

But that's not the answer to Timor Leste's economic woes. The brain drain would only hobble future development. Education needs to improve, government needs to be helped to become more effective. But first, give people something to do to earn a living, reduce their dependence on aid and restore a sense of personal pride and responsibility. Otherwise, there is a real risk that at best Timor will become a failed state, its people mired in poverty, at worst the country could see an outbreak of widespread violence.

Women's groups have been reporting a big increase in domestic violence as unemployment has grown. Too much time mixes badly with too little money.

I had been excited about my visit to Timor-Leste. I have wanted to visit it since reporting on the events there in 1999 and 2000. But the visit has been a sad one. I naively hoped the story would have a fairytale ending: small feisty nation forces out its oppressor and everyone lived happily ever after.

But as often happens post-independence the everyday job of translating peace into prosperity and stability is the harder fight. 

Anne-Marie Green