East Timor Legal Information Site
Dare Refugees appeal to return home Suara Timor Lorosa'e Edition 26 June 2008
DILI - The Dare Suco Chief, Jose dos Santos, says that 44 families who are refugees in the Dare Suco in the Sub-District of Vera Cruz have asked again that they return to their homes. “As the Suco chief, I have delivered their request to the government through the Ministry of Social Affairs and Solidarity.
The answer was that the repatriation to their homes can only be done this coming July" said Jose when he met with Suara Timor Lorosa'e at the Office of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Solidarity in Kaikoli, Dili, on Wednesday (24/6).
According to Jose, the government should just fulfil that request and expedite the refugee return process" he added. “It's better if we do this when they ask for it themselves rather than we force them to return home which will give rise to problems" he added.
In the same tone, the Suco Chief of Kaikoli, Sub-District of Vera Cruz, Domingos Dias, said that as the local authority, he did not get any data from the ministry of social affairs and solidarity about the government's program for the return of refugees.
"The Suco and Aldeia Chiefs should have a copy of the refugee data as a resource to check for those refugees who have already gone home" he said.
Meanwhile, Baptista Soares, a refugee at the Kakaulido Seminary said that the data collection had not been accurate or transparent so when she checked, her name was not on the list.
It was said that to help secure the data, it would be better if the suco chief and the neighbourhood chief hold an archive so that if there is a mistake or confusion, there can be a check on whether a person is really a local resident or not through a register that is kept by the local authority. gec
Original text in Indonesian: http://www.suaratimorlorosae.com/details.php?id=13170&now=2008-06-26
Translation: wwright 270608
