PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES

Three International staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were killed in a brutal mob attack in Atambua, West Timor, in "the worst security incident ever to face UNHCR", the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, informed correspondents at a press conference this morning.

Describing the attack as a “barbaric act perpetrated by militia elements”, the High Commissioner explained that she had learned of the murders of the UNHCR staff members -- Samson Aregahegn from Ethiopia, Carlos Caceres–Callaz of the United States, and Pero Simundza of Croatia -- early this morning. The murders had been confirmed, and relatives of the victims had been informed.

A mob of militia-led people opposed to East Timor independence had attacked the victims with machetes, she said, and the UNHCR office was burnt.

“The mob was on a man-hunt, looking for international staff to attack", Mrs. Ogata said. Although many of the 160,000 refugees that had crossed into West Timor had returned to East Timor, a sizeable number remained in West Timor, she explained and UNHCR had been trying to offer those refugees protection, assistance and an opportunity to decide whether or not they wished to return to East Timor.

Since last month, UNHCR had encountered many disturbances, she continued. Registration of the refugees, for example, had been blocked and subsequently postponed. The security situation was deteriorating and, about two weeks ago, UNHCR had been obliged to suspend its operations for a short while.

Mrs. Ogata urged the President and the Government of Indonesia to “implement concrete security measures to separate out the armed elements and let the refugees either return or go elsewhere”. Words were no longer enough, she declared, and concrete action by the Indonesian armed forces were necessary.

She went on to say that the West Timor situation mirrored the insecurity in many parts of the world where humanitarian operations were being carried out. As examples, she cited Burundi, Sri Lanka, the North and South Caucuses, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia as examples of places where armed forces were making the situation worse, forcing people to flee and preventing people from returning. She noted that humanitarian agencies were often obliged to work in situations where governments would not send their armed soldiers.

Today, Mrs. Ogata declared, was a day of mourning for the family members of those courageous people who had been killed on the front line.

UNHCR Press Conference - 2 - 6 September 2000

“I hope very much that this tragedy will open the eyes of the assembled world leaders to the need to prevent and stop conflicts.”

Asked about Indonesian Government control of the situation in West Timor, she said that was an issue of both capacity and of will. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello had recently gone to Jakarta to raise the West Timor problem with Indonesian leaders, but the worst had happened before any reinforcement of the security situation had occurred.

In response to another question, she said she had expressed her concerns to Indonesian President Wahid this morning and was told that he shared in her mourning and that he was sending two battalions into West Timor to control the situation. She did not know whether those battalions had arrived or what steps they would take on arrival.

There had been a large presence of 105 UNHCR staff –- 42 international and 63 local staff -- in West Timor, she said. All except eight of those stationed in Atambua had been evacuated, and those remaining would be evacuated tomorrow, as would all other UNHCR staff in West Timor. “So it would be a total evacuation out of West Timor”, Mrs. Ogata explained. She emphasised that it was an evacuation, not a withdrawal in response to a request for clarification. The United Nations had declared the security situation as very serious.

The UNHCR would return to West Timor only when the province was fully under control, and the militias and the refugees had been separated, she continued. The Indonesian authorities would have to assure full security.

Asked if everyone was now fully accounted for, she replied that the whereabouts of one person -- not a UNHCR staff member -- was still not known.

The effect of UNHCR's evacuation on the 80,000 East Timorese refugees still in West Timor would be very serious, the High Commissioner said. They would no longer receive the support and assistance of UNHCR staff and they could be subject to harassment and demands from the militia. “That is why it is absolutely important that Indonesia brings its house under control.”

Mrs. Ogata said she was aware of reports that a militia member had been murdered prior to the attack on the UNHCR office but did not know who had killed that person or how.

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