British East Timorese Relations

British East Timorese Relations

East Timor	United Kingdom

Relations between East Timor and the United Kingdom have been problem-free.

history

East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão and British Secretary of State Jeremy Browne

Presentation of the accreditation from Ambassador Owen John Jenkins to President Francisco Guterres (2019)

See also : History of East Timor

The British settlement of Port Essington in Northern Australia received support from what was then the colony of Portuguese Timor . From 1901, among other things, British companies looked for oil in Timor .

Great Britain took a pro-Indonesian stance on the question of whether East Timor should get independence after the Carnation Revolution . The British ambassador to Jakarta, John Archibald Ford , had spoken out in favor of integrating East Timor into Indonesia in order to prevent the creation of a "problem child". On October 16, 1975, British journalists Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie, along with three Australian and New Zealand colleagues, were murdered by invading Indonesian soldiers. The victims became known as the Balibo Five . In 1991 the British journalist Max Stahl succeeded in filming the Santa Cruz massacre , which brought sympathy for occupied East Timor worldwide.

The British television documentary Death of a Nation: The Timor Conspiracy caused a stir in 1994. The film accused the British government of complicity in the Indonesian "genocide in East Timor". Specifically, the deliveries of warplanes and other weapons to Indonesia that were used in East Timor were listed. The film shows, among other things, an interview with British Defense Minister Alan Clark , in which he laughed when asked whether the BAE Hawk ground attack aircraft sold to Indonesia were really training aircraft or whether Indonesia had offered guarantees that they would not be used for purposes of repression. On November 19, 1995, East Timorese activists peacefully occupied the British embassy in Jakarta on the occasion of the APEC summit in Osaka . In the UK itself, several non-governmental organizations were formed to support East Timor. During an act of sabotage at the British Aerospace on January 29, 1996 , activists of the group "Seeds of Hope East Timor Plowshares: Women disarming for life and justice" destroyed a BAE Hawk ground attack aircraft destined for Indonesia. For the first time after such a case, the activists, who justified the act with preventing genocide in East Timor, were acquitted by the court of the charge of property damage.

During its EU Council Presidency in the second half of 1996 , the Republic of Ireland tried to put the East Timor conflict on the European Union's agenda . It met resistance from the conservative governments of the United Kingdom and Germany under John Major and Helmut Kohl , who advocated support from Indonesia during the Cold War . It was not until late that London supported East Timor in its quest for independence from Indonesia. In 1999, for example, the United Kingdom offered independence leader Xanana Gusmão political asylum. Before that, Great Britain had slowed down attempts by Portugal in the European Union to take up the issue, as the British had close economic ties with Indonesia, including arms deliveries. After the end of Indonesian occupation in 1999 of the recommended United Nations set up Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR) that countries had military supports Indonesia, compensation should be paid to East Timor. The United Kingdom was one of these countries.

The Briton Ian Martin was the first UN special envoy for East Timor in 1999 and special envoy of the UN Secretary-General for East Timor in 2006.

diplomacy

East Timor's Ambassador Joaquim da Fonseca with the British Minister Hugo Swire

East Timor has an embassy in London . The first ambassador, Joaquim da Fonseca , took office in 2014. He studied in the UK, as did several other leaders in the Southeast Asian country.

See also : List of East Timorese Ambassadors to the United Kingdom

The UK had an embassy in Dili between 2002 and 2006. After its closure, the embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, is now responsible for East Timor. Before the Second World War, an honorary consul represented Great Britain and Australia in Portuguese Timor . David Ross , who had been an airline representative for Qantas in Dili since April 1941 , was officially accepted as consul by the Portuguese government on December 10, 1941. It was the British response to the dispatch of a consul from Japan to Dili.

See also : List of British Ambassadors in East Timor

economy

Around 16,000 guest workers from East Timor live in the UK, 3,000 of them in Dungannon, Northern Ireland alone . They benefit from special rights that give them the same status as the citizens of Portugal . This is now endangered by Brexit .

In 2018, the East Timorese Statistical Office registered imports from the United Kingdom of $ 742,000. This put it in 24th place among the countries of origin. From East Timor to the United Kingdom, 16,590 kg of coffee, valued at 103,711 US dollars, were sold. This puts the UK in 17th place among East Timorese export destinations and 14th in coffee buyers.

Entry requirements

The United Kingdom does not require a visa for East Timorese.

Web links

Commons : British East Timorese Relations  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Hugh Dowson: Declassified British Documents Reveal UK Support for Indonesian Invasion and Occupation of East Timor, Recognition of Denial of Self-Determination, 1975–1976 , The National Security Archive

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Part 3: The History of the Conflict" (PDF; 1.4 MB) from the "Chega!" Report of the CAVR (English)
2. ^ Robert Hanks: Television Review , in: The Independent, January 27, 1999 , accessed July 9, 2019.
3. ^ ETAN: List of East Timor Support and Solidarity Groups Worldwide , accessed January 24, 2018.
4. ^ Stephen McCloskey, Paul Hainsworth: East Timor Question: The Struggle for Independence from Indonesia. 2000, limited preview in Google Book Search.
5. ↑ Stephen McCloskey, Paul Hainsworth: East Timor Question: The Struggle for Independence from Indonesia , 2000, ISBN 978-0-85771-229-5 .
6. ↑ ^{a b} Embassy Magazine: Elizabeth Stewart: Rebel with a cause , February 18 ( memento of the original from July 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 12, 2016. 
7. ↑ gov.uk: Timor-Leste , accessed on 11 July 2017th
8. ↑ Materials on East Timor during World War II , 2008 (Japanese, English)
9. ↑ Global Voices: After Brexit, Timor-Leste Workers Are Worried About Their Future in the UK , June 27, 2016 , accessed on July 13, 2016.
10. ^ Institute of Development Studies: Brexit and Timorese workers in the UK , August 5, 2016 , accessed July 11, 2017.
11. ↑ Direcção-Geral de Estatística: External Trade Statistics Annual Reports 2018 , accessed on April 17, 2019.
12. ↑ Timor-Leste Passport Holders: List of Countries That Offer Visa Free Entry , June 24, 2018 , accessed October 14, 2018.