|
|
Feature
Not
quite alone
As
the UN draws down, East Timor faces the future with hope
 |
|
East
Timorese men play cards in the streets of Dili. Unemployment
is a major issue facing many people in East Timor.
Photos by Pte John Wellfare, Army newspaper
|
| |
 |
|
An
East Timorese police officer directs traffic in Dili.
Photos by Pte John Wellfare, Army newspaper
|
| |
 |
|
Soldiers
from 3RAR secure a street corner during a major cordon and
search operation in Dili in September 1999.
Photo by Cpl Darren Hilder, 1JPAU
|
| |
 |
|
A
Dili street in June this year.
Photo by Pte John Wellfare, Army newspaper
|
| |
 |
|
Antonio
Gusmao watches as 6RAR soldiers enter Dili’s Comoro
Airport for the return flight to Australia as part of the
draw down of UN presence.
Photo by Pte John Wellfare, Army newspaper
|
By
Pte John Wellfare
The first Australian troops entering East Timor on September 20,
1999, faced a scene of destruction unlike anything most of them
had ever seen. Buildings burned, the smoke-filled streets were
mostly deserted, personal belongings lay scattered in the streets
and Indonesian soldiers, implicated in the post-ballot violence
and 24 years of human rights abuses throughout the island, glared
menacingly from military compounds and vehicles.
When soldiers from B Coy, 3RAR, moved into the abandoned UNAMET
(United Nations Mission in East Timor) compound the sight was
even more ominous. Clothing, blankets and children’s toys
were scattered throughout the buildings and courtyards. Pots of
over-cooked food still sat on stoves that had burnt out several
days before. Whoever had been seeking refuge within the compound’s
razor-wire-topped walls had been forced to leave in a hurry.
During the next five months, INTERFET soldiers branched out and
secured East Timor’s outlying townships and gradually the
people came back. Some of them had sought shelter in the mountains,
many had either fled or been transported to West Timor.
From the end of INTERFET in early 2000, through more than four
years of UN presence, East Timor rose from the ashes and gradually
assumed control of its own internal and external security. East
Timorese police now direct traffic on Dili streets once aggressively
patrolled by heavily armed Australian troops with armoured vehicles
and helicopters in support.
About 500 people continue to represent the UN in East Timor and
will do so for at least another six months. Australia’s military
commitment under the new UN mandate is largely comprised of engineers,
working to build and repair durable road links to outlying areas.
Things are looking up for a country once at the centre of a conflict
that claimed more lives per capita than any other in the 20th
century. Many locals still harbour quiet fears that the UN’s
departure could allow for a return to the militia-led violence
of 1999, but experts in both the UN and East Timor’s security
agencies say this is unlikely.
There are many challenges ahead, with high unemployment, a weak
economy likely to suffer further in the absence of wealthy UN
staff to support local business and little in the way of revenue-based
income for a government still trying to establish reliable infrastructure.
But with a 24-year struggle for independence and the whole world
behind them, the people of East Timor should be able to find their
feet.
|
| |
|
|
.
|
|
