By Mick Barclay*
DILI — Next to the side entrance of the United Nations compound is a grave containing two young bodies, marked with a crudely fashioned metal cross. One is of a four-year-old who died while the militia were hacking many people to death in the grounds around the compound in September. The child's abdomen was slit open by the razor wire surrounding the compound, as his parents tried to throw him over the wall to the relative safety on the other side.
The front and side gates of the compound were locked. People climbed trees and fell the three-metre drop to the other side. Others attempted to hand and throw their children over the wall, these children often becoming entangled in the razor wire.
The Timorese buried the child next to the side gate, which could have so easily been opened, in protest against the UN's unwillingness to save lives in the post-ballot period.
Unfortunately, that lack of action persists.
Dili is now a burnt-out shell. The entire city was still glowing when Interfet troops arrived, attempting to patch up the public relations disaster that the UN had left in its desertion of East Timor after the August 30 ballot.
Only a handful of the population had remained behind, usually those who were too old or sick to flee to the mountains. The entire town was covered in rubble. Everything of value was stolen, and animals roamed the streets.
When I arrived here on October 19, people had started returning home with a few meagre possessions. They found that family members and friends were missing. The only food available was rice. There was no soap, no blankets, no medicines and, since most of the water pumps had been stolen, no water for washing.
Most people were wandering around in shock, cleaning up the mess while news of the discovery of mass graves spread through the streets. Bodies were discovered in wells, buried in vacant blocks and allegedly piled up in buildings such as the local police station.
However, within a week the morale of the population underwent a massive transformation. The catalyst was the enormous influx of people returning from the hills and from Kupang in West Timor. Each convoy of returning refugees was greeted by thousands of people.
In a small town like Dili, one that has been fighting against oppression for so long, most people seem either to know each other or at least to know of each other.
Residents began moving into the undamaged and deserted Indonesian-owned homes, upon finding that their own homes had been destroyed by either militia or TNI, the Indonesian military.
An air of independence and freedom grew. For the first time in 24 years, East Timorese could walk down the streets without being harassed by the Indonesian occupying force or their hired thugs.
Basketball and soccer games began to take place on the street. The central market reopened, musicians began playing, and people started reconstructing their houses, using whatever rubble they could find.
But now, slowly, the people are once again asking questions of the UN. Where is all the aid that has been promised? Experienced NGO workers commented to me that the UN's East Timor operation is the slowest moving program they have ever seen.
Except for the movement of rice and drinking water, there was little else happening. Doctors complained about a severe shortage of medicines, lack of infant formula or even powdered milk, resulting in babies dying from malnutrition. Skin diseases are breaking out and other hygiene problems will follow, as a result of the shortage of soap and other cleaning products.
With the wet season only a matter of days away, only $1 million worth of building materials has even been ordered. Nothing has arrived. A small amount of plastic and canvases have been distributed to a minority of areas, but often without ropes. With the amount of rainfall in East Timor during each wet season, the lack of good shelter is a concern.
The UN did little during the rampage of the Indonesian military and the militia, which destroyed over 70% of Timor's buildings and infrastructure, but not one piece of timber has been ordered to rehouse the East Timorese.
So far the UN's main activity is deciding who gets what. All basic building items — such as cement, nails and timber — will be bought from Indonesia to "repair the diplomatic relations between Australia and Indonesia and to kick-start the Indonesian economy".
The UN representative went on to say, "Some people are worried that Australia may miss out financially, but we will be buying the large items such as turbines from there". Three days later I heard that Telstra had been given a contract to repair the communications system. Who will own the electricity network, among other things of value?
The National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) and the Transitional Council have been little consulted over rebuilding the country's infrastructure. CNRT has been unable to set up an office in Dili, despite negotiations with the UN yielding the promise that a vacated TNI building could be used. This is being renegotiated, because the UN is showing interest in taking over all recently vacated TNI buildings.
Falintil, the national liberation army, which enjoys mass support, is confined to cantonments designated by the Interfet command, despite Interfet reliance on Falintil to secure some areas. Sections of Falintil and leaders Xanana Gusmao and Taur Matan Ruak are isolated in a hillside base, preventing their involvement in the crucial decisions that are being made.
The media are also deserting East Timor. CNN withdrew from coverage of the territory following Xanana's return on October 21, and many more followed. Timor is now news only in Portugal and Australia.
Questions must be asked. Is the UN serious about rebuilding? Will it allow the Timorese to decide their own future? Or is its main aim to mend a public relations disaster and give away the country's infrastructure and wealth to other foreign interests?
The Timorese have been fighting for their rights for more than 400 years. The fight has still not finished, and international sympathisers must also keep up their support until East Timor wins true self-determination.