by Irene-Maria Eich, UN Volunteer with UNTAET

04 March 2000

Dili, East Timor: Six months after the outbreak of post-referendum violence in East Timor, tensions have eased and East Timor is slowly finding its way back to normalcy. The United Nations Assistance Mission to East Timor (UNAMET) has been replaced by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), while the International Forces for East Timor (INTERFET), have turned over military control of the territory to the UN Peacekeeping Forces which are under the authority of UNTAET. International staff members arrive in Dili on a daily basis, and so far half of the expected capacity has been reached. Once everyone is in place, there will be 1,200 international staff in East Timor, including 500 United Nations Volunteers. A few of them are featured here.

Omar Jallow, 34, Gambian
Duty Station: Baucau District

Omar Jallow's first experience with the UN occurred when he worked as a communications officer in the first UN-Gambian Electoral Support Programme in 1996. The UNV with a legal academic background subsequently participated in the country's set-up of a new government for three years. In June 1999, he joined the United Nations Assistance Mission to East Timor (UNAMET) as a UNV district electoral officer.

"When I left the Gambian Electoral Commission in March 1999, I felt I had something to offer to the people of East Timor, having only recently experienced myself the transition to democratization. It was also an opportunity to widen and deepen my understanding of electoral work. It has been a learning experience, since I was directly involved in fieldwork (registration of voters, voter education, organization and management of polling stations)".

Returning after relocation from Darwin in early October 1999, Omar was sent as district field officer to the Baucau district to help reorganize educational activities. Baucau's infrastructure is largely intact and very few casualties occurred. "Soon after the UNVs arrival, we jointly created a subcommittee on education with the Baucau Reconstruction and Development Committee. Its objective was to reopen the schools as quickly as possible. We conducted an assessment of all schools in the district, coordinated the rebuilding of the schools and finally recruited voluntary teachers, since all Indonesian teachers had left the country following the Popular Consultation." By mid-November several schools had managed to re-register their students and started teaching.

The UNVs' efforts were backed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which provided the local community with construction material, exercise books, pencils, paper and a monthly cash incentive of 150,000 Ruphia per teacher. Also, the World Food Programme (WFP) contributed with a monthly supply of 50 kg of rice per teacher. At present, more than 1,300 instructors are teaching 23,000 students in over 100 district schools.

UNICEF has put Omar in charge of coordinating the same exercise for the entire eastern part of the island, including the districts of Lautem, Viqueque and Manatuto. "The UNVs have achieved a lot on behalf of UNTAET in the Baucau district, but it was only possible with the will and dedication of the local community, which sacrificed their time and efforts unrestrictedly," he says. UNTAET's next steps include creating a school curriculum, determining official teacher qualifications and by setting up a national educational authority run by the Timorese.

Tanja Hohe, 29, German
Duty Station: Maliana District

Tanja speaks Bahasa Indonesia fluently. She has a master's degree in social anthropology and is currently working on her PhD in Indonesian studies. Finishing her first assignment as a short-term electoral observer in Indonesia in June 1999, Tanja was recruited as a district electoral officer to Maliana for UNAMET in July. Returning from Europe in December, she went back to Maliana as a district field officer for UNTAET.

"When I came back to Maliana after the Popular Consultation it was like coming to a different country," she says. "Previously the population had been very reluctant and shy to get in touch with us, being threatened by the militia. Now we were warmly welcomed and there was a feeling of a new beginning, the will to build a new society. Mutual trust and confidence has kept growing since our return."

Maliana was heavily destroyed and the majority of the population was forced to flee into neighbouring West Timor out of fear of being killed by the militia. At present Maliana acts as the main transit centre, channelling returnees to all of the country. Initially Tanja worked together with INTERFET -- later the UN peacekeeping forces -- to resettle returnees in their home villages. The 5/7 Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment occupies a 600-soldier post in Batugade. Part of their assignment is to run the Civil Military Liaison office, which assists civil society in its efforts to carry out humanitarian assistance by providing vehicles and helicopters for food distribution.

"Working in such close cooperation with the military was a completely new experience for me, which resulted in a fundamental change of my personal attitude towards the army in general. Their openness and readiness to help us made our life much easier and we have become real friends," she says. "Apart from dealing with a wide range of humanitarian and administrative relief tasks, I was put in charge of property and land rights. Being here with the UNV programme gives me the opportunity to apply and expand my knowledge of the traditional local societies. At the same time I feel that I am contributing to the difficult process of mutual understanding between two contradicting worlds: one aiming at the introduction of modern state concepts and the demarcation of borders, the other defending ancestral land rights handed down over generations -- it is a fascinating experience!"

M. Afzal Khan, 46, Pakistani
Duty Station: Suai District

Afzal, a professional journalist, has been a Pakistani Government official for more than 15 years. In 1996, he joined the Election Commission of Pakistan and currently holds a position as public relations director. In 1999, he volunteered together with many other government officials to participate in the UN Popular Consultation mission in East Timor.

Afzal came back to East Timor in mid-December and was sent to Suai as an acting district administrator. "When I arrived here there was nothing on the ground, everything needed to be done. It was a challenge and demanded our full dedication. Over time we have managed to build up a relationship of trust as our presence began to show small but visible signs of improvement."

Suai is situated on the southern coast. The district was almost totally destroyed and suffered massacres at the hands of the militia. So far 70 per cent of the population has returned and people continue to return from over the border.

"The East Timorese paid a heavy price for their independence. Now they have to plant the seeds and wait for the fruits to grow," he says. "Since the support took a long time to arrive, we decided to help the local population by using their methods and means.

One of the main economic activities of Suai is fishing. The militia destroyed the fishing fleet, which had around 60 boats as well as the nets and repair equipment. First we set up a fishing cooperative and made an assessment of the situation. With the help of INTERFET we managed to get hold of chain saws and cut down trees which were appropriate for the carving of canoes. At present we have built 10 boats."

Joanne Cheah, 34, Malaysian
Duty Station: Same District

After studying history and political science in Sydney, Joanne's first electoral mission came during the Cambodian elections in 1994 when she served for five months as a logistical support officer with Australian Volunteers Abroad (AVA). Her experience with the UNV programme began in June 1998 with the second Cambodian elections and continued in December 1998 with the first round of Nigerian elections. On both occasions she was sent as a regional electoral officer for a period of four months.

The UNV arrived in East Timor in June 1999 and was sent as a district electoral officer to Same. After her evacuation to Darwin she returned to Same as a civil affairs officer. "I was the first civilian to go back to Same in an exploratory military convoy of eight vehicles of INTERFET to check out the security situation on the ground. I was very apprehensive about the reaction the local population would have to seeing me again. When we entered the destroyed city the crowd came towards our vehicles and cheered. When they recognized me they called out my name and shortly afterwards I found myself being hugged and welcomed by a mass of happy people. They perfectly understood that we had to leave East Timor at the time and there were no bad feelings. It was one of the most touching experiences of my life and I will never forget it."

Same lies in the southern part of central East Timor. The district was not so badly destroyed but there were hundreds of casualties. People are still coming back. They fled into the mountains as soon as they voted, and for several weeks Same had been a ghost town.

"After our return we were immediately pushed into humanitarian assistance by creating links, building up a working relationship and a consultative process with other UN organizations, NGOs and the CNRT (the main political Timorese party) which were all starting at the same time as ourselves. In these very early days UNAMET was in disarray, there were not enough people and no decisions were being taken. Communication with Dili was poor and we had no means of knowing how the situation was elsewhere. We always thought we were not doing enough and it was only when we went to Dili that we found out that it was the same dilemma everywhere."

"I will never forget the joy and satisfaction I felt at the sight of the military helicopters finally coming in to Same one after the other to drop food supplies and shelter material."

Matthew Skinner, 24, Canadian
Duty Station: Dili District

Matthew recently joined the UNV programme as an anthropologist field assistant in order to help with these investigations of human rights violations. The UNV is studying biological anthropology at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.

He explained that approximately 300 bodies have been exhumed in the whole of East Timor. In late January a forensic team went to Passabe, in the enclave of Oekussi where a high number of casualties have been reported. They exhumed the remains of approximately 40 individuals, the majority being buried in single graves. The remains were flown to Dili morgue to undergo forensic examination.

In February, Matthew and Dr. Malcolm Dodd, an Australian Forensic Pathologist, an INTERFET crime scene investigator, conducted autopsies and an anthropological analysis on each set of remains. Their goal was to determine the cause of death, the sex of the individual and the approximate age and stature of the individual. Clothing and personal property were cleaned and photographed, as they offer one of the best chances for identification of the remains. "The majority of evidence of trauma on these remains are in the form of cut and chop marks on the bones," he explains. "Consistent with such trauma are wounds caused by machetes and knives. Most victims are males from 18 to 30 years of age. My hope is that through our work, the majority of the victims in these cases will be identified and their remains returned to their families. The prosecution of these killings will be carried out in a joint effort by the criminal investigators of CIVPOL and the East Timor judiciary."

Dr. Koka Rao, 53, Indian
Duty Station: Dili

UNV Dr. Rao specialized in tropical medicine after having obtained his medical degree at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. After practising for many years in India, Dr. Rao moved with his family to Geneva in 1996 where he has been involved in voluntary work with Medecins sans Frontières (MSF) and in the organization of several conferences with the World Health Assembly. "Having experienced for many years the rudimentary post war health situation in India, I always longed for international experience elsewhere to contribute to the humanitarian cause of mankind, which motivated me to come to East Timor."

"I arrived in Dili by mid-June 1999 to start a small clinic within the UNAMET compound. At this stage I was the only international doctor on the ground, and I spent my time visiting the districts by helicopter to provide UN staff with basic medical treatment and care. Cooperation with local doctors was very positive, we were allowed to use their X-ray equipment and to treat complicated cases, such as fractures, on their premises."

"With the arrival of a Chief Medical Officer and several nurses we moved our clinic to a better location outside the UN compound where we stayed until tension started to build up immediately after the day of the Popular Consultation. Roads were being blocked, people were evacuated from their houses and by 4 September the situation had worsened to an extent that we had to abandon the clinic leaving most of our equipment behind."

In the evening of 5 September, the militia attacked a school building adjacent to the UN compound in which the local population had sought protection in the vicinity of the international community. There was heavy shooting and in a moment of panic, 2,000 locals climbed over the compound walls for refuge. "Hundreds of them got hurt whilst climbing over the razor wire perimeter. Luckily we had the first aid boxes from our vehicles to provide rudimentary treatment. Thanks to the solidarity of everybody involved we even successfully delivered a baby boy on 6 September."

At this stage there were 600 UNAMET staff and approximately 2,000 locals squatting in the grounds of the compound deprived of any housing or sanitation facilities. People were sleeping on the office floor, washing became problematic and within a few days diseases such as diarrhoea, dehydration and viral infection cases broke out.

"The situation of siege was becoming more difficult as the days passed. The whole city was ransacked, the air was filled with smoke and the wind blew ashes like rain all over the place. Whenever a vehicle tried to leave the compound, it was shot at. On 10 September we were finally evacuated with the help of the Indonesian army. Under heavy military escort we left the compound in a convoy to be flown out to Darwin in a Hercules 130 aircraft. The vehicles had blinded windows, preventing us to see anything on the way out, only the smells allowed us to guess the degree of destruction and misery around us. Looking back, I must admit, there were times when we thought we would not survive this."

Since his return to Dili in mid-October, Dr. Rao has been involved in coordinating medical efforts of various NGOs and advising local medical staff in the set up of medical centres. "Being at the height of the rainy season, our main preoccupation at present consists of treating a considerable number of cases of dengue fever and malaria, in addition to the normal viral diseases such as flew, colds, fever and some skin diseases."