The Jakarta Post

Saturday, January 19, 2008

More houses for E. Timor ex-refugees

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: The ministry for social affairs will develop 1,800 simple houses for former East Timor refugees who have chosen to stay in the province.

Previously, the government constructed 5,000 houses for a similar purpose in Belu, North Timor, South Central Timor and Kupang.

Chief of the local social affairs ministry office Fransiskus Salem said here Friday the new houses would be built to resettle ex-refugees in Belu and Kupang.

"The number of ex-refugees in the two regencies was 9,000 families, and they have been staying in camps following their 1999 exodus from East Timor. They have chosen to stay in Indonesia permanently for fears they would be detained or jailed for their support of Indonesia's rule in the territory when it declared independence in 2000," he said.