October 04, 2006 00:53 AM
SUBANG, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) Tuesday received praise from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the excellent service rendered while serving with the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force in Timor Leste.
He said the PDRM team despatched to Timor Leste to maintain peace and security in that country had served in a professional and excellent manner.
He said this had been conveyed to him by an official who had attended an international seminar which was also attended by Timor Leste Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta.
"Ramos had given his views which praised the excellent service provided by our police personnel," Abdullah told reporters at the RMAF Airbase, here after welcoming 160 police officers and other ranks who had returned from Timor Leste after having served three months there.
Abdullah, who had come unannounced at about 11 pm, spent about 20 minutes shaking hands with the police personnel and thanking them on behalf of the Malaysian government for their excellent service.
The Prime Minister also thanked the families of the personnel involved for their patience while the Malaysian team was in Timor Leste.
Also present were Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and his deputy Datuk Mohd Najib Abdul Aziz as well as several Cabinet ministers.
In May, the UN had allowed the despatch of an international police team comprising personnel from Malaysia, Australia and Portugal to Timor Leste following chaos in that country.
-- BERNAMA
quarta-feira, outubro 04, 2006
Abdullah Praises Police For Outstanding Service In Timor Leste
Subscrever:
Enviar feedback (Atom)
2 comentários:
Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Date: 03 Oct 2006
Print E-mail Save Timor-Leste: When this nun speaks, even rival gangs listen
DILI, Timor-Leste, October 3 (UNHCR) – As some 200 displaced men and women line up in a queue that snakes along a dusty pot-holed driveway to the steps of the Canossian Sisters of Charity convent, a strapping middle-aged nun takes a microphone and begins issuing instructions.
"Listen, listen, listen, bring your registration cards and listen," Sister Guillermina barks. The men and women who call this compound home in Balide, Dili react quickly – it's time for the daily food distribution that has been keeping them alive since they were chased from their homes by factional violence earlier this year.
The Canossian Sisters' compound has been transformed from a place of worship into a refuge for 2,000 internally displaced Timorese, some of the 150,000 people who fled their homes earlier this year before international peacekeepers were called in to end fighting between factions of the military and police.
Displaced people eager for food are not the only ones who listen to Sister Guillermina – this outspoken and energetic leader of a band of hard-working Timorese Roman Catholic nuns has managed to forge a ground-breaking reconciliation between two of the gangs who had terrorised the capital, Dili, since the eruption of violence in late April, some four years after independence.
Despite the presence of foreign troops, peace has not come as quickly as many hoped to this island state, the world's first new country of the 21st century.
As the tiny country prepares for the rainy season, there are stilll 56 camps around Dili and an unknown number of spontaneous camps in the districts – all housing people too scared to go home. UNHCR has provided tents, plastic sheeting and other non-food items such as kerosene stoves to each of these, and UNHCR site planners have worked to improve drainage systems.
Though many people still do not trust the fragile peace and remain displaced in the camps, there are some bright spots – like Sister Guillermina's accomplishments in getting rival gangs to talk out their differences.
Gang warfare – characterized by attacks with stones or metal arrows – is one of the most troubling consequences of a long history of east-west division in poverty-stricken Timor-Leste. Gangs, representing either east or west, often burn down the houses of their rivals or terrorise them in the camps.
Three weeks ago the Canossian Sisters' compound became the target of fighting between youths from the Cai-Coli and Rebals Mascarenas areas. The fighting went on for five nights, with displaced families cowering in their tents as stones rained down, and the nuns getting up every few hours to try to calm them. Finally, Sister Guillermina decided to face the gangs herself.
She went back and forth between the two groups trying to get them to listen to reason and put aside their jealousies. "They said to me 'Aah mother only wants to listen to Rebals,' and the Rebals say, 'Aah mother only wants to listen to Cai-Coli'" she recalls. "I ask them to embrace one by one, be a peaceful person, Timor needs peaceful persons. This is the type of people we need for rebuilding."
Official reconciliation came at a weekend ceremony attended by government ministers, police, religious leaders and members of the humanitarian community. The boys linked their arms and shook hands. They apologised and agreed not to fight each other. They then shared a reconciliation meal from the same bowl of rice, using the same spoon, and drank from the same cup of water.
Two weeks later, the gangs are still at peace and Sister Guillermina can concentrate on helping those inside her compound. This is no small task. Rows and rows of UNHCR tents and sheeting line the convent grounds – the tent ropes act as washing lines, their canopies as shelter for preparing evening meals.
Having spent three years managing refugee camps in Bosnia, Sister Guillermina is aware of the complexity of the situation in her own country. "In Bosnia, people are quiet and listen to you, they do what they are asked. Here [in the camp], the majority are illiterate – it makes it very hard for me. I am always talking to the people, and they are very stressed and tired and angry," she says. "I have to solve every individual problem: husband and wife, medical – like they have forgotten how to solve problems themselves."
On the verandah of the Canossian Sisters' compound, young girls sit embroidering altar cloths for the church. Their hands move slowly, careful to keep the material white and their stitches on the mark. As they sew, tiny pink crosses begin to flower on material in their laps. The work takes time, patience and composure, much like the rebuilding of this country.
By Emily Tannock
In Dili, Timor-Leste
Tradução:
Abdullah elogia a polícia por serviço excelente em Timor-Leste
Outubro 04, 2006 00:53 AM
SUBANG, Oct 4 (Bernama) – A Polícia Real da Malásia (PDRM) na Terça-feira recebeu elogios do Primeiro-Ministro Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pelo excelente trabalho que prestou ao serviço da força de manutenção da paz da ONU em Timor-Leste.
Disse que a equipa da PDRM despachada para Timor-Leste para manter a paz e a segurança nesse país tinha actuado de forma profissional e excelente.
Disse que isso lhe tinha sido transmitido por um oficial que participou num seminário internacional onde esteve também o Primeiro-Ministro de Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta.
"Ramos deu a sua opinião que louvava o excelente serviço prestado pelo nosso pessoal da polícia," disse Abdullah aos repórteres na Base Aérea da RMAF Airbase, aqui, depois de dar as boas-vindas aos 160 oficiais da polícia e outros graduados que tinham regressado de Timor-Leste depois de terem servido lá três meses.
Abdullah, que chegou sem anúncio cerca das 11 pm, passou cerca de 20 minutos a apertar as mãos ao pessoal da polícia e a agradecer-lhes em nome do governo Malaio pelo seu excelente trabalho.
O Primeiro-Ministro também agradeceu às famílias do pessoal envolvido pela sua paciência enquanto a equipa Malaia esteve em Timor-Leste.
Também presentes estiveram o Inspector-Geral da Polícia Tan Sri Musa Hassan e o seu adjunto Datuk Mohd Najib Abdul Aziz bem como vários ministros do Gabinete.
Em Maio, a ONU tinha autorizado o destacamento de uma equipa internacional de polícia que compreendeu pessoal da Malásia, Austrália e Portugal para Timor-Leste a seguir ao caos naquele país.
-- BERNAMA
Enviar um comentário