CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Churches in West Timor have started relief work for some of the displaced people in Kupang and Atambua, cities on the border of East Timor. The escalation of violence and terror after the Aug. 30 independence referendum in East Timor has forced people to flee their homes.
"About 200,000 people have fled to West Timor since Sept. 4, and another 190,000 people are believed to be displaced within East Timor," said Belletech Deressa, director for international development and disaster response, Division for Global Mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Action by Churches Together (ACT) has started building shelters for refugee families, said Deressa. ACT, a worldwide network of churches and related agencies that meet human need through coordinated emergency response, is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva, Switzerland. The ELCA is a member of ACT, LWF and WCC. On behalf of its member churches, ACT has provided $50,000 as an initial response toward relief work, Deressa said. ELCA International Disaster Response has sent $50,000 to support ACT's efforts. Relief workers in Kupang and Atambua are trying to reach displaced people with food, shelter and basic health care. Doctors and health care workers are being hired by churches in West Timor. Since pro-Indonesia militia groups control access to camps housing displaced people, the delivery of basic humanitarian relief is difficult, reported the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for international communication, ELCA Division for Global Mission. Militia groups responsible for the violence in East Timor have moved to West Timor and a climate of fear has developed, said Ishida. Militia remain active in Kupang's five main camps. Reports have surfaced of independence supporters being identified and taken away by the militia. Militia groups carrying firearms are visible around Kupang. In 1975 Indonesia invaded East Timor as Portuguese rule collapsed there. Indonesia annexed it in 1976, despite international condemnation. Ever since, the Indonesian army has been accused of human-rights abuses in attempt to suppress independence supporters, Ishida said. The violence in East Timor has largely been created by pro-Indonesia militia groups reacting to the referendum when 78.5 percent of the population voted in favor of independence from Indonesia, he said.
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