---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Green Left Weekly [Australia] August 11, 1999 Thousands of students return to East Timor By Sam King=20 DILI -- As the massive Indonesian passenger ship the Dobonsolo left Jakarta=20 on July 23, thousands of people filled its seven tiers. Hundreds more set up=20 sleeping places on the open deck. Among them were hundreds of East Timorese returning home to vote in the=20 referendum. The majority were students, mostly from Jakarta and Lampung, but=20 there were also many refugees from the violence of anti-independence militia= s=20 in East Timor.=20 In Surabaya, the number of passengers was swelled by another 1000 East=20 Timorese, mostly students from Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Malang, Semarang and=20 other parts of central and west Java. Sleeping bodies blocked the decks,=20 corridors and stairwell landings, and covered seats and tables in the=20 cafeteria and the luggage.=20 The clothes and luggage of those filling the decks were decorated with East=20 Timorese and Falantil flags, independence slogans and pictures of Xanana=20 Gusmao and sometimes Che Guevara.=20 In Bali, hundreds more East Timorese boarded for the journey home. It is=20 fortunate that the Dobonsolo didn't sink between Bali and East Timor because=20 the 10 life boats were filled with luggage and people who couldn't find a=20 better place to sleep.=20 When the ship arrived in Dili, the East Timor flag was raised and passengers=20 sang the struggle song =93Ami isim Maubere, klamar mos Maubere=94 (=93My bod= y is=20 Maubere, my pulse is Maubere=94).=20 The majority of East Timorese studying in Indonesia have now returned home,=20 having suspended their studies to vote in East Timor. Many of those remainin= g=20 in Indonesia are also pro-independence.=20 In central Java, almost all East Timorese students have returned home. Those=20 who have remained in Indonesia have stayed to observe the voting, by mainly=20 young workers unable to leave their jobs to go home to East Timor.=20 In Bali, only 10 to 15 East Timorese students remain. Others staying in=20 Indonesia are providing a skeleton staff for pro-independence organisations.=20 Throughout Indonesia and its occupied territories, students make up only a=20 tiny percentage of the population and, as a rule, come from privileged=20 backgrounds. Most East Timorese students, like other students, can carve out=20 a relatively privileged life for themselves.=20 Well over half of all East Timorese students in Indonesia are given=20 scholarships from the Indonesian government. Many students believe the=20 scholarships are an attempt by the regime to create a privileged and=20 politically compliant layer of East Timorese. Certainly, the large number of=20 scholarships for East Timorese students contrasts starkly with the=20 government's lack of interest in developing East Timor in any other way.=20 If the regime's scholarship policy aims to form a politically moderate layer=20 of East Timorese, it is failing miserably. The students are the first to=20 point out that living conditions for the vast majority of East Timorese are=20 shocking and the mass exodus of students from Indonesia to campaign for an=20 independence vote in East Timor is a clear indication of their preparedness=20 to fight for justice for all East Timorese.=20 The regime's attempt to form a mass pro-government student organisation has=20 also failed. In 1988, the regime set up the pro-Indonesia high school and=20 university student group Impettu. By 1994, due to overwhelming=20 pro-independence sentiment among students, the government was losing its gri= p=20 on Impettu. After the student-led uprising in Indonesia in May 1998 which=20 forced President Suharto to resign, Impettu was dominated by pro-independenc= e=20 students.=20 Impettu now plays a key role because, as a body originally set up by the=20 government, its legal status gives it the space to coordinate many movement=20 activities. Its secretariat in Dili is organising the thousands of students=20 passing through Dili on their way home to East Timor.=20 All pro-independence students in East Timor, except those working for Impett= u=20 and campaign organisations in Dili, have been instructed by the East Timores= e=20 leadership to go to their homes if the local area is not too unsafe. There=20 they are to campaign within their communities for an independence vote and t= o=20 counter the anti-independence militias' terrorising of locals.=20 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 11 Aug 1999 jam 07:29:30 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
