Timorese: we're being forced to leave Australia
BY JON LAND
East Timorese asylum seeker and independence activist Naldo Rai is being forced by immigration authorities and government officials to leave Australia.
Along with around 1600 East Timorese asylum seekers, he faces an uncertain future. The federal government has made it clear that the asylum seekers are not welcome and that it will do all it can to force or pressure them to leave.
Rai has been living in Australia for four years. Before coming here he was part of an underground network of East Timorese student and youth activists in Jakarta whose members were constantly hounded by the Indonesian authorities. He also spent time as a Falintil freedom fighter in the mountains of East Timor.
Fearful of capture by the Indonesian military, a fate which would have meant torture and likely death, Rai fled to Australia. For him, the trip also provided an opportunity to help strengthen the international campaign for the right of the East Timorese people to self-determination and for real democratic change in Indonesia.
"I have only been in Australia for a short time compared to other asylum seekers. One of my friends has been here for 11 years, waiting all that time to be granted refugee status. All of us feel like we are stuck in limbo", Rai told Green Left Weekly.
Many of the asylum seekers left East Timor during the months of intense military repression which followed the Dili massacre in 1991.
Government backdown
The sharp increase in requests for asylum by East Timorese prompted the Paul Keating Labor government to put a freeze on the processing of applications in 1994. Despite officially recognising Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor, both the Keating and John Howard Coalition governments have sought to block the East Timorese seeking refugee status by arguing that they had the right to Portuguese nationality (and hence should seek asylum in Portugal and not in Australia).
Federal Court rulings in 1997 and 1998 found that the right to Portuguese nationality and Portuguese "protection" was not effective and that the East Timorese had the right to seek refugee status here.
Last year, while the Indonesian military and their militia proxies were waging a terror campaign across East Timor, the Howard government sought to appeal the Federal Court's 1998 decision. Immigration minister Philip Ruddock at one stage even suggested that East Timorese fleeing the repression would be sent back to Indonesia.
The massive public outcry during the post-ballot violence in East Timor in September forced the government to provide sanctuary for just over 2000 East Timorese refugees, who were offered a temporary "safe haven" visa. It also forced an end to the government campaign to have the asylum seekers deported. On November 19, Ruddock withdrew the government's Federal Court appeal.
Now the government has turned to backdoor means to evict the East Timorese asylum seekers. The provisions of the Border Protection Act, passed in December, and related new immigration regulations introduced at the same time, make it even less likely that the asylum seekers will ever be granted refugee status.
The asylum seekers have all had to reapply to the Refugee Review Tribunal, even though some have already had their applications in process for 10 years. "The government is hoping that we will all be frustrated with the further delays with our status, to the point that we will just leave", Rai explained.
Intimidation
Rai also told Green Left Weekly that immigration authorities have made it clear to him that he should return to East Timor and not bother trying to gain temporary or permanent status in Australia.
"I have even been contacted by people claiming to be ASIO [Australian Security Intelligence Organisation]. They called me 'fireman' and a 'troublemaker' for standing up for the refugees and explaining to them that they have democratic rights", Rai said.
As a consequence of helping refugees and other East Timorese organise demonstrations against their deportation at the East Hills "safe haven" in Sydney in February, Rai has been banned from visiting the refugees remaining there. Before the ban, he spent most days with the refugees there, teaching and playing music with them, and helping them cope with their trauma.
According to Rai, many of those at East Hills are still traumatised but are nevertheless being pressured into signing immigration documents they do not fully understand. They're confused as to what their rights are, he says. "Some of the refugees believed they would be detained by the federal police if they did not sign the immigration documents", Rai said.
The refugees are also concerned about conditions back in East Timor, with continuous reports from friends and relatives of not enough food, medicine or shelter.
Solidarity
Rai is thankful for the enormous solidarity and support from the Australian people for the people of East Timor, but does not trust the government at all. "They are liars, just like all the governments before them who betrayed East Timor for 24 years."
He appealed for more political solidarity. "The Howard government still needs to be pressured to provide real assistance to East Timor.
"The Australian government could easily provide many scholarships for East Timorese students. So many East Timorese have been denied a proper education because of the Indonesian occupation. East Timorese students want to finish the studies so that they can contribute to rebuilding East Timor".
"We need your ongoing solidarity to ensure democracy and human rights are upheld in an independent East Timor", Rai said. "This is the new challenge for both the Australian and East Timorese people."