Timorese flee to forests to escape militia

By ANDREW PERRIN Herald correspondent

AINARO - Villagers in East Timor's mountainous central southwest have again fled to the forest afraid for their lives, while others have organised vigilante groups to defend themselves against possible militia attack.

The terrified villagers say they no longer trust the United Nations peacekeeping force to guarantee their safety.

The exodus to the mountains of 1200 people from the remote village of Maununo, roughly 40km from the West Timor border, is the first time people have felt compelled to leave their homes since international security forces arrived in East Timor last September.

Hundreds of thousands of Timorese sought refuge in the mountains after the wave of militia violence that swept the territory following the August 30 independence vote.

Most returned to their burned-out villages and towns after an Australian-led Interfet force forced the militia groups over the border into West Timor.

In the past month, the security situation along the rugged border separating UN-controlled East Timor from West Timor has deteriorated, with militia incursions into the newly independent state increasing.

Militia assaults in the past month have left two UN peacekeepers dead, including New Zealand peacekeeper Private Leonard Manning, and plunged the already traumatised Timorese living near the border into a state of panic.

In Maununo, the sighting of a militia group close to the village last Thursday devastated the small farming community.

Village chief Afonso Da Cunha said when the people heard that militia were in the area they ran straight into the forest.

Last September, the militia killed 12 people in Maununo in one of the worst single massacres recorded in the central southwestern region.

The town's entire population is now camped in the open air along a river valley not far from the village, returning only by day to stock up with provisions.

"I will not return until the peacekeeping force send some soldiers to live in the town," said Marguerido Bianco, a mother of six, who is camped in the same patch of dirt she and her family inhabited for a month last year before the arrival of peacekeepers.

Da Cunha claimed Portuguese peacekeepers based in Ainaro, 10km north of the village, were reluctant to base soldiers in the village because of its inaccessibility by road.

"They came here for 10 minutes on Saturday and told us that we should not be scared, and then they left," he said. "But we are all still living in the forest."

The people's fears appear justified following a raft of confirmed militia sightings in the area this week.

In Cassa, 20km south of Maununo, a militia group entered the town on Sunday night and left after harassing the local populace.

More worrying for the UN peacekeeping forces was the presence of roughly 40 militia near the town of Hatu Buliko, high in the mountains of central west Timor, on Sunday night.

Cesar Opricio, a UN senior inspector who travelled to Hatu Buliko on Monday to investigate the sighting, said the frightened populace had formed a vigilante group to defend the village against a militia attack.

No one slept in the village on Sunday night, he said.

"They all huddled together and the men formed their own security," said Opricio. "They were all heavily armed with machetes.

"They said they did not want a repeat of last year. Things are getting worse. It's bad."

UN officials in Dili fear that today's anniversary of Indonesia's Independence Day may encourage the militia to launch attacks to show their allegiance to Jakarta.

UN peacekeeping spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Brynjar Nemo said security in the border areas was being revised to counter the increase in militia activity.

Herald Online feature: Timor mission

UN Transitional Administration in E Timor