There is a need to return the remaining
East Timorese displaced in West Timor and elsewhere in Indonesia to their
communities of origin in order for rehabilitation, reconstruction and development
to begin. The safe and orderly return transportation of displaced persons
is the responsibility of IOM by agreement and in close cooperation with
UNHCR.
Summary
Today, IOM repatriated by land and sea and air a total of 502 people to East Timor
A total of 173 refugees were extracted from Haliwen, Fatubenao, Sesekoe, Lakafehan and Fatukmetan, five camps in the region of Atambua. The convoy took the refugees to the Motaain border crossing and then onto Batugade. IOM Dili provided secondary transport inside East Timor, to Dili, Balibo , Maliana and Liquica .
A second convoy picked up 244 refugees from camps in the vicinity of Betun .All returnees were taken to the Wala border crossing and then on to Suai.
An IOM chartered ferry arrived in Dili from Kupang with 197 returnees on board. The ferry is now on its way back to Kupang with 138 East Timorese who will be returned to the Oecussi enclave in West Timor.
An IOM chartered plane repatriated 71 East Timorese from Kupang to Dili.
In addition, 14 East Timorese returned to Dili from Perth, Australia, on two small IOM chartered flights.
As of 17 December, IOM has organized the return by land, sea and air of 70,117 East Timorese from West Timor, from other parts of Indonesia and from Australia. So far, close to 125,000 people have returned in an organized or in a spontaneous way to East Timor.
Total returns by land
To date, IOM has returned 29,096 East Timorese by land from West Timor.
Total returns by sea.
To date, IOM has returned 28,990 East Timorese by sea from West Timor and from other parts of Indonesia
Total returns by air
To date, IOM has returned 7,354 East Timorese from Kupang to Dili and 3,908 from other parts of Indonesia.
A total of 771 East Timorese have so far been returned by IOM from Australia.
Funding
IOM has made an appeal to the international community for US$25,565,000 for its Timor activities. This includes US$23,250,000 for the return assistance of displaced people to East Timor. So far a total of US$6,678,525 have been pledged by Portugal, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Germany, the Netherlands and ECHO. IOM currently faces a shortfall of US$18,886,481.
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International Organization for Migration
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