Notícias - em inglês

UNMIT Daily Media Review - Wednesday, 04 October 2006

National Media Reports
TP - Timor Post
DN - Diario Nacional
STL - Suara Timor Lorosae
RTTL - Radio e Televisao de Timor-Leste

Relocation of IDPs
The government has decided to relocate IDPs to new areas and assist those wishing to return to their districts, reported the media today. Deputy Prime Minister and spokesperson, Rui Araújo said the government is yet to decide on the area for the transition housing to enable IDPs to settle temporarily. An inter-ministerial team headed by Prime Minister Ramos-Horta will prioritise the move of the people from the camps of the hospital, airport, Hera-Metinaro, and Colmera garden. According to Araujo the team will visit the camps to identify their main problems and offer the options prepared by the government including the return to the districts. On a related issue, the Minister of Public Works, Odete Vitor said the government is studying how to facilitate the reconstruction of private properties affected during the crisis. On the affected State properties, she said the government has not made a decision for rehabilitation. The Council of Ministers made the decision to implement the project for the rehabilitation and construction of properties of the population on Wednesday.

In a separate article, the priest of Motael parish Antonio Alves urged the government to urgently act on the refugees as the wet season is starting. Alves said he is sad that none of the leaders were present at the launch of the book titled ‘Refugee’. The book is based on the feelings of the displaced people and information collected from 6 IDP camps and supported by the Dili Diocese Commission for Justice and Peace, Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Australia and ICMC. (STL, TP)

Discussion for Reintegration of Petitioners
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta said the government is discussing the re-integration of the petitioners with the head of the Defence Forces. According to Ramos-Horta many members of the petitioners group want to rejoin F-FDTL and he agrees that many of them are not at fault and have not committed any crime or wrongdoing. The Prime Minister said the competence rests on the commander of F-FDTL, but the government will discuss how to resolve the problem case by case. He said petitioners will receive humanitarian assistance for up to two months and if there is no political solution, there is a legal solution as they have the right to assistance from the government. The PM was scheduled to meet another group of the petitioners today in Gleno, Ermera District. (TP, DN)

MP Disagrees With PM on Subsidy
MP Ozorio Florindo (Fretilin) disagrees with the statement made by Prime Minister Ramos-Horta on subsidising the political parties equally. Florindo said he does not know how the Prime Minister made his decision, adding that the subsidy should be based on the political parties’ representatives in the Parliament. (STL)

Groups with Guns in Ermera
MP Jose Buras (PD) told the Parliament plenary session on Tuesday that many groups carrying guns are wandering in Ermera District. Buras said it is not yet known whether the burning of houses and the killing of a child in that area are related to the groups. He said there have been cases where those responsible for the crimes have fled the area, leaving the international forces to detain those not involved in the acts. On the recent shootings in Bobonaro District, according to Antonio Mauluta, a PNTL officer stationed in that area, the action was carried out by the group Colimau 2000, when the leader of the group was denied participation in the program “cash for work” because he wanted to get the money without working. (STL, DN)


RTTL Headlines
04-10-06

President Xanana Gusmão receives credential letter from new Ambassador Cuba
Yesterday President Xanana Gusmão received a credential letter from the new Ambassador of Cuba to Timor-Leste, Ramon Hernades Vasquez. President Xanana thanked the Cuban Government for offering doctors to assist the Timorese especially in remote areas, as well as for offering scholarships for Timorese students to study in Cuba. Meanwhile the new Ambassador said that the Government of Cuba is continuing to work together with Timor-Leste especially in the areas of health and education.

National Parliament held 1st public audience
National Parliament (Commission A) held its 1st public audience with political party leaders to discuss and listen to opinions about the two draft electoral laws. The Fretilin draft was presented by the Deputy Secretary-General of Fretilin, Jose Maria Reis. Issues that were discussed by the participants were the threshold of 5% minimum, the location of vote counting, the independence of electoral commission and the issue of independent candidates. Meanwhile the Secretary-General of PD, Mariano Sabino said that the opposition party does not accept the 5% minimum but suggests a 2% minimum.

Council Ministers approve the rehabilitation and construction policy
Deputy Prime Minister, Rui Maria Araujo after the Council Ministers meeting said that the Government has approved the very important decision to look at the rehabilitation and construction of houses that destroyed during crises. The Council has defined the objectives, options and methods. Meanwhile the Minister of Public Works, Odete Victor said that there are four options: Houses with certificates, those illegally occupied, private houses occupied by illegal owners and illegal occupied illegal houses.

Prime Minister, Horta launched Tetum Dictionary
Yesterday Prime Minister, Horta launched a Tetum dictionary at the National University. Speaking at the ceremony PM Horta said that Tetum is one of Timor-Leste’s official languages so the Timorese must develop their own language. Meanwhile the Director of Linguistic Bureau, Aderito Jose Correia said that the objective of the Tetum Dictionary is to assist the Timorese on how to use and speak Tetum well.

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SBS DATELINE - Archives - October 04, 2006

East Timor's Refugees
With their leaders continuing to bicker over their political differences, there's no end in sight to the troubles of the hapless East Timorese. The conflict goes on, albeit sporadically these days, though just last week, the ruling Fretilin Party's headquarters in Dili were torched. But what about the ordinary East Timorese? They're among the poorest people in the world, and after the recent violent upheavals, some 150,000 of them are surviving in refugee camps. David O'Shea spent some time with them.

United Nations World Food Programme

REPORTER: David O’Shea
JOSE (Translation): This is a drawing of the East Timorese flag.

These children are trying to forget the trauma of fleeing their homes. For the past five months, 'home' has been a refugee camp at Dili airport. This is Jose, a refugee who's volunteered to help keep the children busy.

JOSE: Sometimes we feel very sad because we do not know in an uncertain time, we do not know when we can go home. That sometimes makes us feel a bit sad about it, but with this kind of activity, we can minimise the fear and the stress or depression.

There are still almost 60 camps for 150,000 internally displaced people in East Timor. Many have had their homes looted and burned. They fled here with nothing, they're going nowhere, and they're getting by as best they can.

JOHN BOSCOE, REFUGEE (Translation): The tents are too hot, so we built these. They don't keep the rain out, but they're not as hot.

John Bosco fled to the airport with his family back in April at the first sign of trouble. He's been here ever since. John offers to show me what life is like for the refugees here.

JOHN BOSCOE (Translation): We've got no beds or anything. When it happened, we ran away. We had to leave everything behind. Since then, we've asked friends for help. We've got a few things from our friends. It's like this for us every day. Good morning. Morning!

The refugees here are mostly easterners and have been threatened by mobs from the west.

JOHN BOSCOE (Translation): This is our life. We want to go out, but we feel threatened, so we just stay in our tents. Although it's hot, we stay here because we're afraid.

GIRL (Translation): When things are better, we'll go home.

REPORTER (Translation): But it's not better yet?

GIRL (Translation): There are still disturbances in our neighbourhood.

REPORTER (Translation): Every night?

GIRL (Translation): Yes, every night.

John says that when he and some friends tried to go home they were attacked, and one of them was stabbed. But worse than the fear is the feeling that the refugees are pawns in a political game.

JOHN BOSCOE (Translation): Even those people, our brothers, the ones who behave brutally, burning and looting, even they know that they're being used. We in the camps are also being used, we're also victims. We have suffered too much. If the government want to kill us all they can take us to a field and shoot us. Better to die than suffer.

ARSENIO BANO, MINISTER FOR LABOUR AND COMMUNITY REINSERTION: All of these are maps that we identify different camps.

The government minister responsible for managing the camps is Arsenio Bano. He says the refugees won't go home until East Timor's leaders show some unity.

ARSENIO BANO: We need to have a common understanding or effort by everyone in this country that we are sending one message of how to be able to calm down the situation, because it is not only a sectarian problem - it is most likely a politically motivated problem which makes it so difficult to handle from the humanitarian aspect.

Outside of Dili we pass thousands more displaced people. I've joined the United Nations World Food Program on a field trip to assess humanitarian needs in the east of the country. It's not only the refugees who are suffering here. Life for most East Timorese is a struggle at the best of times and aid agencies were warning of widespread malnutrition even before the current crisis.

RASMUS EGENDAL, WFP EMERGENCY COORDINATOR: At WFP we've done some surveys and we estimate about 350,000 people on average in any given year do not have access to enough food to meet their minimum kilocalorie requirements. That means they don't have enough food, they don't have money to buy enough food or the household doesn't produce enough food.

This family is like many others in East Timor. They have no land to farm, so they rarely eat vegetables, beans or eggs. The father ekes out a living selling fish, but the family only gets to eat fish once or twice a month. The 'blonding' of the children's hair indicates significant protein deficiency and all of them are stunted.

RASMUS EGENDAL: That child there is seven years old - she probably has the height of a 5-year-old. They don't get enough food, they don't get the right kind of food for them to grow at a normal level.

According to the World Food Program, almost 10% of East Timorese children die before their first birthday. Of those who survive, close to half are underweight or stunted and 12% are severely malnourished. Emergency coordinator Rasmus Egendal says there are long-term consequences for the country if malnutrition is not eradicated.

RASMUS EGENDAL: Their growth is stunted, their mental development is not as it's supposed to be, so many kids die. When they go to school, they don't have the same capacity to develop, so for a nation like this that is struggling to come back after this bumpy period it's been through, that's a serious problem.

Is this the rice? The rice. They already ate once today?

TRANSLATOR: Lunch and dinner.

RASMUS EGENDAL: What do they eat with this?

TRANSLATOR: No more, only this - only rice.

RASMUS EGENDAL: What is in this pot? It's empty. OK. So do they eat any vegetables with this?

TRANSLATOR: No, only this.

Even those with land to farm are doing it tough. Like farmers all round here, this family is feeling the effects of two years of bad harvests. This young mother is pregnant with her second child. Egendal wants her to visit the local clinic where she can pick up dietary supplements and doctors can monitor the baby's growth.

RASMUS EGENDAL: She doesn't go if she doesn't have a problem? OK, so that doesn't work very well in terms of growth, so she doesn't really understand how to go.

Whether she understands or not, it costs money and time to reach the clinic and her main concern is finding enough to eat each day.

RASMUS EGENDAL: We can't do anything about the poor agriculture and we don't want to provide free food, but we can do a supplementary program, so the mothers - they go to the clinics, and you bring some support to the children and the pregnant women and also the mothers that are still breastfeeding.

Egendal has brought me to see the local health clinic. It's doing its best to provide for the needs of locals here in the east, as well as the influx of refugees from Dili. This young woman's first child died and she's now pregnant with her second.

REPORTER (Translation): How many months are you?

WOMAN (Translation): Six months.

RASMUS EGENDAL: Does she understand about children. Does she understand what she has to do?

TRANSLATOR: Yes, she understands.

RASMUS EGENDAL: Every month?

TRANSLATOR: Yes, every month.

RASMUS EGENDAL: Every month to the health clinic to weigh, to measure the child.

The World Food program says the current crisis is making a critical situation even worse.

RASMUS EGENDAL: If anything should happen, if there is some sort of generalised violence or any kind of shock, these people can very quickly get into a situation where the acute malnutrition raises to a level where the kids are at risk of dying or getting diseases.

This woman is 1 of 300 Cuban doctors brought into East Timor by former prime minister Mari Alkatiri. She says she was shocked to see the level of poverty here.

CUBAN DOCTOR (Translation): Out of 1,000 children, almost half will be under-nourished. Almost half of them have malnutrition problems. It's disconcerting to find so many under-nourished children.

She has found the Timorese have been through so much, yet expect so little.

CUBAN DOCTOR (Translation): They don't know any better, they think life's like that. Living in those conditions without the minimum... It's hard to see them not knowing life could be better. Sometimes you feel impotent. You don't know how to help. Often there are no resources, so it's hard.

On the way back to the capital, we find more displaced people. Instead of fleeing to a refugee camp, these people moved onto their family's land.

RASMUS EGENDAL: 10 people sleep in here. 10 people sleep in this house? That's a lot. And their house was burned?

WOMAN: No, just broken.

RASMUS EGENDAL: OK, just broken. Just imagine if they are here when the rainy season starts.

Back at Dili's airport, the refugees are also worried about the rainy season, now just a few weeks away.

JOHN BOSCOE (Translation): Even now, many children are dying. When the rainy season starts it will be worse. It's dry now, but when it rains it becomes a catchment area. This place is like a dam that holds water from upstream.

Five months after the violence started, three months after a new prime minister was installed, and despite the presence of international peacekeepers, the outlook is still grim for these families. It has left many in despair about East Timor's leaders.

JOHN BOSCOE (Translation): They are not capable of fixing this problem and they are not capable of running the country. So independence - what for? But I am very emotional, so I say that because we have suffered enough. Life is too hard. We have lost too many family members. It's too hard.

Reporter/Camera
DAVID O’SHEA

Editor
WAYNE LOVE

Subtitling
ROBYN FALLICK
JORGE TURINI
…

UN News Centre - 4 October 2006

Top UN peacekeeping official warns of ‘overstretch’ as mission staff numbers surge

An “unprecedented” surge is taking place in the number and size of United Nations peacekeeping missions, with as many as 140,000 staff members likely to be in the field next year, a senior UN official said today, warning of the dangers of political overstretch when there are so many operations competing for attention.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told reporters at a briefing in UN Headquarters in New York that “we have our work really cut out for us” to manage the growth in size of peacekeeping missions, especially as the planned full deployment unfolds in Lebanon, Sudan’s Darfur region and Timor-Leste.

He said there are more than 93,000 people currently working in the field at the UN’s 16 peacekeeping missions and two political-peacebuilding missions that are directed and supported by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).

Once the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) complete their full deployment, and if the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) expands its operations in Darfur as authorized, then there will be over 140,000 blue helmets, police officers and civilian staff in place.

Mr. Guéhenno said the cost of running so many operations with such enormous numbers of staff is scheduled to top $6 billion and keep increasing.

“When I look at those figures, in some ways I see that as a vote of confidence in UN peacekeeping. I see that as also a good sign, in the sense that it means a number of conflicts are ending because you can’t have peacekeeping in the midst of a shooting war,” he said.

“But I also see, and it’s my duty to see it, the enormous challenge that that represents: the managerial challenge, to make sure that on all those 18 different operations, 18 different political processes, we are attentive to them, and we support them adequately; [and] the very practical challenges of supporting that number of people, making sure that they have the right quality, that they have the professionalism that we want them to have, that there is a proper oversight in all areas.”

Praising the work of staff in the field and serving peacekeeping operations at UN Headquarters, he called on the international community to step up and ensure it plays an appropriate role in ensuring that each individual mission receives the attention it deserves.

“Sometimes there is a sense that once a peacekeeping operation is authorized, then the work shifts from the Member States to the Secretariat. I don’t think that’s the case. Of course it’s more work for us, but it also means that the Member States have to be doubly engaged so that the political processes that our deployments are expected to support come to fruition.”

In response to reporters’ questions, the Under-Secretary-General also stressed that he was in the midst of a programme to restructure DPKO and its culture into a more field-oriented department.