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Find out moreLast of East Timor's displaced people are finally going home
10-September-2009
During the peak of the crisis, more than 60 camps were set up in and around Dili to house the displaced.
It has been ten years since East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia in an historic referendum. Since then, the road to stability has been precarious, and the eruption of violence in May 2006 weakened previous peace building efforts. During the civil unrest, 6,000 homes were destroyed in the capital Dili alone and between 150,000 – 180,000 people fled from their homes.
Plan played a key role in the relief effort - supporting the displaced with food distribution, shelter, water and sanitation, as well as ensuring the protection and essential needs of children were met.
Now, more than three years later, the Metinaro IDP camp that once housed up to 6000 people is in the last stages of closing and the five remaining transitional shelters that also have housed IDPs are set to close by the end of 2009. So does this mean that the country is finally on the road to recovery?
Three years on: Life in Camea village in Dili
About 90 per cent of Camea residents took refuge in Metinaro IDP camp.
Much of the violence in 2006 was blamed on 'eastern' and 'western' tension, a divide that surfaced for a variety of social, economic and political reasons in the post-referendum period. In the country's healing and recovery process, the reintegration of communities back into society is seen as key.In order to ensure long-term peace, several NGOs have stressed that a commitment to justice and accountability is essential. Many crimes, such as arson, property damage and murder, remain unresolved, making it difficult for Timor-Leste to move forward with a strong respect for the rule of law and governance and ultimately to ensure sustainable peace.
"We call for justice for the crimes which resulted in the displacement of thousands of families," says Plan Timor-Leste’s Country Program Director, Susan Smandych. "This will enable people to learn from the past and create the foundations for new and equitable methods of conflict resolution."
Learn more about
Plan's work in East Timor