Travel Tips

East Timor is the eastern half of the easternmost island of Indonesia, that now prepares for independence, under the auspices of the UN.
Last year, in August 1999, the people of east Timor voted for separation from Indonesia that had occupied this previously Portuguese colony since 1975, causing much suffering...

During summer 1999 I stayed in East Timor, monitoring the preelection period as on-site coordinator for a Norwegian NGO.
I shot this photo at the last pro-independence demonstration in Dili, the capital.

as we neared August 30th, the day of the referendum. Indonesian backed militia terrorised the people, adding several more victims to the 250.000 that had lost their lives during the years of indonesian rule...
This photo is from the graveyard of the mountain village of Maubisse, where I was based in mid-August.

In September 99, as soon as the vote result was announced by the UN(79% for independence from Indonesia) the forces that favoured Indonesia and its soldiers went amok, killing timorese and practically burning the whole city of Dili and most other towns in the island. The photo is from the U.Nations counting center, 4-9-1999, just two days before I was evacuated to Darwin by the Australian Air Force...

Most of the 700.000 East timorese fled to the mountains and up to half of the population were forced to join the retrieting indonesian forces and move the Indonesian West Timor as refugees.
In the end of September 1999 I also moved to Kupang, the capital of West Timor, in order to work with protection and evacuation of the refugees.
The photo is from the Dili airport, 8-10-1999, showing the first East Timorese refugees that were allowed to fly back with the support of UNHCR...

I have visited East Timor 3 times since I had to evacuate and i was happy to find all of my friends alive...

Situation has now stabilised in East Timor and people are busy rebuilding their country and founding- with support from the UN- their national state, for first time in history...
Timorese are a marvelous folk leading simple lives and welcoming foreigners who they feel have helped them to become free from Indonesia.
Unfortunately, by the end of 2002 some 20.000 refugees live still in West Timor, under difficult conditions.
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