East Timor genocide continues - O Caoláin
Genocide against the people of East Timor is continuing. This was highlighted in Leinster House on Tuesday by Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín O Caoláin when he spoke in support of the sending of an Irish contingent to join the United Nations peacekeeping force in East Timor.
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday evening, the Cavan/Monaghan TD conveyed the concerns of Tom Hyland, who travelled to East Timor from Darwin on Wednesday:
``I support the motion for the dispatch of a force from this state for service in East Timor under a United Nations mandate. The Irish people have been to the fore among those worldwide who expressed solidarity with and have given practical help to the East Timorese people long before the latest crisis in their history.
``Tom Hyland has raised a number of important issues which need to be factored into our discussions this evening. What needs to be pointed out most urgently is that the genocide has not stopped. The East Timor (Ireland) Solidarity Campaign reports that more than 200,000 East Timorese people have been forced out of their country and are held in concentration camps in West Timor. These camps are being run by the very people who wreaked so much havoc during and since the referendum. It is reported that there are very few men in these camps and the fear is that thousands have been killed.
``The people of East Timor are also being exiled to other parts of eastern Indonesia. This is part of an official Indonesian policy as expressed by the Indonesian Minister for Transmigration. The people are not being given a choice to return to East Timor and are being exiled in fear of their lives. An estimated $27 million has been allocated by Indonesia for this forced exile.
``I would like the Minister for Foreign Affairs to assure the House that Irish taxpayers' money, either through IMF or the World Bank, will not be used to finance this forced transmigration programme of the Indonesian Government against the people of East Timor. I urge the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and can the Taoiseach instruct the Minister for Finance, to get a written agreement from the IMF and World Bank on this.
``The INTERFET mandate only covers East Timor and the UN Resolution places responsibility for repatriation of refugees on the Indonesian government. The Jakarta regime cannot be trusted to return these people. Pressure must be placed on them to ensure that refugees are placed under international protection, that is, under the protection of the Irish and other UN forces. I urge the government to fully support and promote the demands of the East Timor (Ireland) Solidarity Campaign, including a repatriation agreement with full access to West Timor for UNHCR and other agencies, humanitarian assistance and a humanitarian corridor between West and East Timor to allow refugees to return safely.''
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