Subject: SMH: Banned: American doctor treating
victims of militia attacks
Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 10:01:34 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Friday, August 6, 1999
EAST TIMOR
Banned: doctor treating victims of militia attacks
By LINDSAY MURDOCH in Dili and MALCOLM BROWN
An American doctor credited with saving the lives of scores of East Timorese attacked
by pro-Jakarta militias in Dili has been refused entry to Indonesia and put on a flight to
Darwin.
Dr Dan Murphy said he was told on arrival in Bali early yesterday en route to Dili that
he was on an Indonesian immigration blacklist, even though he had obtained a valid visa at
the Indonesian Consulate in Darwin to work in Dili under sponsorship of the Catholic
relief agency Caritas.
Dr Murphy, an outspoken critic of violence against East Timorese villagers, said from
Darwin he was upset that he could not return immediately to East Timor where there is a
chronic shortage of doctors and many people refuse to be treated in Indonesian-run
hospitals.
"People are dying there," he said. "I just want to get back."
Often the only doctor available at night and with scant medicines and basic equipment
Dr Murphy, 55, once used a hacksaw to amputate a patient's leg to save his life.
He recruited several other foreign volunteer doctors, including Australians, and
campaigned for donated medical supplies. He is not paid.
Dr Murphy was told to leave Dili last weekend after overstaying his visa by five days
and flew to Darwin, where his visa was renewed without delay.
The Indonesian news agency Antara quoted the Immigration chief in Dili, Mr Guning, on
Monday as saying Dr Murphy was "staying illegally for more than two months" and
using a tourist visa to work as a doctor.
The Antara report also said Dr Murphy was "known to be an activist critical of the
Indonesian Government, particularly the military". Unnamed sources had said he was
involved in a recent clash between non-government organisations and militia groups
opposing independence.
In Sydney yesterday, the Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, said he was "more optimistic
about a solution being in sight [for East Timor] than I have been at any time since I have
been involved in public life".
He regarded an announcement last week by the Indonesian opposition leader, Ms Megawati
Sukarnoputri, that her party would accept the outcome of the coming ballot on independence
was "a big turning point on the issue".
"I had dinner with Megawati on Wednesday night last week and spent a good part of
that dinner trying to persuade her that she and her party should accept the ballot,"
he told the American Chamber of Commerce.
"I would like to feel my conversation helped." Mr Downer said the former
deputy prime minister, Mr Tim Fischer, had been nominated to lead the Australian
delegation to monitor the August 30 ballot.
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