Indonesian bishop rejects aid intended for East Timorese refugees

Published: 2003-12-09

ATAMBUA, Indonesia (CNS) -- An Indonesian bishop rejected a local government's offer of aid that originally had been earmarked for East Timorese refugees. Bishop Anton Pain Ratu of Atambua told reporters Dec. 1 that he would not accept the gift of several donated motorcycles from the East Nusa Tenggara provincial government because the cash used to purchase the motorcycles had been intended to help refugees, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. The government informed the bishop by letter in late November that it would donate the motorcycles to five parishes. The motorcycles were purchased with money donated by the Japanese government. In early 2002, the Japanese government donated $6.25 million in aid to help East Timorese refugees. About 250,000 East Timorese fled or were forced from their homeland into West Timor and other Indonesian territories in the violence that followed the August 1999 vote for independence. Some 28,000 East Timorese still remain in West Timor, which borders East Timor.

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