Asia Times: Expatriates enlisted in independence preparations



	February 24, 1999	atimes.com

Oceania

Expatriates enlisted in independence preparations
By Andrew Nette

MELBOURNE - By day, Abel Guterres drivesa bus in Melbourne. His real occupation since fleeing his homeland in 1975,however, has been the struggle for an independent East Timor, aquest which after 23 years is close to becoming a reality.

Abel is president of the East Timor Relief Association, aTimorese aid organization working in Australia and the formerPortuguese colony.

He is also one of the 20,000-strong East Timorese diaspora inAustralia, the largest in the world, a group which will play acrucial role in their country's future.

''At the moment there is tremendous excitement in ourcommunity, everyone wants to contribute something,'' says Abel.''Our community in Australia is going to have a very stronginfluence over what happens in the future state of East Timor,both politically and economically."

On Tuesday, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer willarrive in Bali to begin a series of meetings with Indonesianleaders, including President B.J. Habibie, in which thefate of Indonesia's reluctant 27th province will featureprominently.

But away from the high-level haggling over the future of theformer Portuguese colony, Abel Guterres and others like him areengaged in the massive operation of literally building the newEast Timorese state from scratch.

Supporting them are Australian NGOs and civil society groups,who argue that after supporting Jakarta's 1975 occupation of EastTimor, Australia has a responsibility to help out with aid.

''There needs to be a transition period, mainly forreconciliation among East Timorese groups, and together to sitdown for dialogue for reconciliation and together build up thiscountry,'' says East Timor's key religious leader and 1996 NobelPeace Prize winner, Bishop Carlos Belo.

''But we also need time to prepare in other areas. At themoment we lack human resources and a government infrastructure.All we have now is an Indonesian structure and if we want to beindependent I think we must prepare a minimum administration ofour own,'' says Belo, who is now in Australia.

It is a concern shared by the Australian government, whichfears that a rapid Indonesian pull-out will leave it with a strife-torn, perpetually poor nation only 480km from its northern coast.

About 75 percent of East Timor's formal economy is controlledby non-East Timorese, who also dominate all key service sectors,including banks, hospitals, telecommunications and transport.

East Timor's population of 860,000 has an annual per capita income of U.S.$60, and even that is heavily augmented by outside aid.

A series of confidential cables between Australian diplomats inJakarta and Canberra, recently obtained by Australian newspapers,paint a bleak picture of the prospects for an autonomous orindependent East Timor.

The cables warn that an Indonesian pull-out could result in anupsurge of fighting between pro and anti-independence factions onthe island.

This would lead to a breakdown in security, and spark a massexodus of non-East Timorese, in turn hurting food production,basic services, and bringing about a ''brain drain'' in the publicsector, key utilities and medical services.

The Timorese resistance, the cables say, expects to put''active guerrillas'' and exiles into administrative, technicaland professional positions in the new government, tasks they lackthe skill to perform.

In response, East Timorese groups have been engaged in acampaign to recruit skills and resources from the expatriatecommunity in Australia.

''Doctors, nurses, computer people, electricians, any EastTimorese person who has skills, we need all these people, alltheir knowledge to help build East Timor."

While in Australia, Bishop Belo is also meeting with EastTimorese communities in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, beforeflying to New Zealand.

''He will also address meetings of East Timorese who haveestablished businesses in Australia, who have commercial skills,about how they can help our future country,'' says Abel.

A growing number of Australian civil society groups aremounting their own initiatives to aid the transition in EastTimor.

And despite its slow-footed response to the changes in EastTimor and its public opposition to independence, Canberra isengaged in frantic preparations for what all agree will ofnecessity be its crucial role in the new country.

Downer publicly acknowledged this recently, saying Australia''has no choice but to be the lead aid donor for East Timor, andhas every intention of being so."

Government sources say there is a possibility that the EastTimorese are more than likely to reject Indonesia's autonomyoffer, and that a move to independence could happen much morequickly than anyone imagines, possibly in the next 18 months.

Australia is working closely with other foreign governments onan aid response, including a major role in an internationalpeacekeeping mission, and money and advice for key aspects ofsetting up a new East Timorese government, legal system,currency, police and banking system.

In addition to coffee, fisheries, agriculture and tourism, EastTimorese leaders are relying heavily on a renegotiation of theTimor Gap Treaty.

Signed by Australia and Indonesia in 1989, it covers some U.S.$4billion in oil and gas reserves in the sea bed of theTimor Gap. A sovereign East Timor potentially is entitled torevenue from the treaty if it can persuade the two signatories toallow it a share.

But observers question whether even this is sufficient basisfor the new East Timorese state to function.

''Economically, no one is arguing we face a huge challenge, butit is important to note that our people do not expect luxuries, weare ready for several years' hardship before the situationimproves,'' says Abel.

East Timor must also deal with the collective trauma of 24years of bloody civil conflict, including what observers say isalmost an entire generation of angry, disaffected youth.

''In addition to economic development, for me the mostimportant thing is that we must cultivate reconciliation among thedifferent parties, groups and religions in East Timor andIndonesia, in an effort to move from fear and anger to peace anddevelopment,'' says Belo.

One solution he advocates is the creation of a truth andreconciliation commission similar to that in South Africaafter the fall of apartheid, in which the church would play a keyrole.

''In East Timor we have lived for so long with a regime thathas distorted the truth, we need such a process,'' he says.''Telling the truth through a public process is the first point ofreconciliation."

(Inter Press Service)