Indonesian-East Timorese Relations

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Indonesian-East Timorese Relations
Location of Indonesia and East Timor
IndonesiaIndonesia East TimorEast Timor
Indonesia East Timor

The states of East Timor and Indonesia maintain good neighborly relations .

geography

The state of East Timor, the Indonesian West Timor and the Indonesian neighboring islands

East Timor occupies the east of the island of Timor . In addition, the land includes an exclave in the west of the island and two other small islands. Indonesia includes the rest of Timor and all neighboring islands in the west, north and east. The land border with Indonesia is 228 km long. The boundary line had been set at 97% since 2006. Controversial with Indonesia was initially the affiliation of the small, uninhabited island of Fatu Sinai (Pulau Batek) , 37 hectares between Memo (Suco Tapo / Memo ) and the Indonesian Dilumi ( Belu administrative district ) and areas around the exclave Oe-Cusse Ambeno ( Área Cruz in Passabe , Citrana triangle in Nitibe ) as well as the exact modalities of a corridor from Oe-Cusse Ambeno to the main state area. Since 2010 there has been a special pass for traffic in the border area. Since the end of 2009, however, there have been repeated attacks by Indonesian soldiers on the local population in Naktuka . In 2013 the dispute over the area at Memo was settled. By this time, East Timor had already given up its claims to the island of Fatu Sinai. On July 23, 2019, after a meeting between East Timor's chief negotiator Xanana Gusmão and Wiranto , the Indonesian coordination minister for politics, law and security, it was announced that an agreement had now been reached on the course of the national border. Negotiations have also been taking place since 2015 on the drawing of maritime boundaries.

There were repeated warnings, especially from the ranks of the Indonesian military, that efforts were being made to unite the island of Timor into a state independent of Indonesia. However, there were never any serious politicians or groups in East Timor who strived for such a Greater Timor . The cultural differences and ethnic compositions are also very different in the two parts of the island, which has been divided for 400 years.

history

Colonel Dading Kalbuadi led the invasion of East Timor (1975)

The territory of Indonesia emerged from the Dutch East Indies colony in 1945 , while East Timor continued to be a Portuguese Timor colony. Indonesia is accused of being behind two uprisings against the Portuguese , even though Indonesian diplomats declared before the United Nations in 1963 that their country had no interest in areas outside the former Dutch East Indies . Portuguese Timor was explicitly mentioned here. The reason for this was also the tie-up of Indonesian forces in western New Guinea , where they tried to gain control. Doubts about the statement remained due to the anti-colonial polemics of the Indonesian government. After the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974, the colony was prepared for independence. The East Timorese party APODETI was financed by Indonesia and advocated affiliation with its large neighbors. The support in the population of East Timor was limited. When it became clear that the left-wing FRETILIN would probably take over the leadership of the country in elections, the conservative UDT attempted a coup in August 1975. But the FRETILIN emerged victorious from the brief civil war . The Portuguese administration had withdrawn from the colonial capital Dili . UDT and APODETI supporters fled to Indonesia. As a result, Indonesian troops, disguised as supporters of these parties, occupied the border regions of East Timor. In order to counter the threat, FRETILIN unilaterally proclaimed independence on November 28, 1975 . Indonesia responded by reporting that the leaders of UDT, APODETI and other parties had signed the so-called Balibo Declaration on November 30, 1975 , calling for East Timor to join Indonesia. The declaration, a draft of the Indonesian secret service, was signed in Bali and not in Balibo, probably under pressure from the Indonesian government. The signatories were more or less prisoners of Indonesia. Xanana Gusmão called the paper the “Balibohong Declaration”, a play on words with the Indonesian word for “lie”.

The flag of occupied East Timor ( Timor Timur )

On December 7, 1975, the open invasion of East Timor began. In 1976, Indonesia officially declared the annexation of East Timor, but this was largely not recognized internationally. A guerrilla war of 24 years followed, during which around 183,000 of the 800,000 East Timorese were killed through fighting, reprisals by the occupying forces, hunger and disease. Only after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship did Indonesia declare its readiness to hold an independence referendum in East Timor in 1999 . The result was clearly in favor of the complete independence of East Timor, whereupon Indonesian security forces and pro-Indonesian militias hit East Timor again with a wave of violence in Operation Donner . Much of the population either had to flee their homes or was forcibly deported. Large parts of the infrastructure were destroyed.

East Timorese women in an Indonesian propaganda picture (1984)

Only the dispatch of an International Reaction Force (INTERFET) ensured that peace and order were restored. After three years of UN administration , East Timor was given independence again on May 20, 2002. Since then, the leading East Timorese politicians have primarily sought reconciliation with Indonesia, rather than prosecuting the human rights violations committed. Large parts of the East Timorese, human rights organizations and the Catholic Church criticize this. The work of the Joint Truth and Friendship Commission (CTF) to come to terms with the crimes of 1999 was also criticized in this regard. The East Timor Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR) founded by the United Nations tried instead to document the perpetrators of the crimes between 1975 and 1999. The UN Serious Crimes Unit investigated this in East Timor. Because the governments in Jakarta and Dili did not cooperate with the court, or did not want to strain the mutual relationship, Indonesian officials from the administration and the military were not brought to justice. During the 2006 riots in East Timor , the SCU office was ransacked and important evidence against Indonesian suspects was destroyed. Several thousand East Timorese, mainly collaborators and their families, fled to West Timor after the Indonesians left and now live there in very poor conditions.

Around 4,000 children were brought from East Timor by Indonesian soldiers, officials and religious organizations during the 24 years of occupation - mostly to help them, and parents were often promised that their children would get a good education. Other children were kept like slaves by the soldiers who killed or snatched them from their parents. According to a secret military document, Indonesian soldiers were supposed to support the transfer of children to Indonesia in order to spread Islam in East Timor. Many children went to strict Muslim schools and were forcibly converted. The kidnapping was never an official state policy, but a year after the invasion, President Suharto had taken 23 East Timorese children into his residence in Jakarta. They became an East Timorese branch of the Suharto family. Since most of them were only two or three years old, it is difficult to find their families in East Timor today. Numerous children have simply disappeared.

After the Sulawesi earthquake in 2018 , East Timor donated US $ 750,000 as a sign of solidarity for the victims in Palu .

diplomacy

The Consulate General of East Timor in Denpasar

East Timor has had an embassy in Jakarta since October 2002. There are also consulates general in Denpasar ( Bali ), Atambua , Kupang (both West Timor ) and Surabaya ( East Java ).

Indonesia already had a consulate in Dili during the Portuguese colonial era. It has had an embassy there since 2002.

Relations between the two countries are generally considered to be good, despite various problems. Numerous agreements regulate cooperation in different areas.

Economy and Transport

The border crossing in Motamasin

Indonesia is a member of ASEAN , which East Timor wants to join. Indonesia supports this goal.

With a share of 33.3%, Indonesia is East Timor's most important trading partner when it comes to importing a wide variety of goods. In 2018, East Timor imported goods worth US $ 159,380,000 (2016: US $ 158,594,000) from Indonesia, including vehicles, fuel, food, cigarettes and building materials. Conversely, East Timor exported goods worth 3,152,000 US dollars to Indonesia (third place among the target countries, 2016: 453,000 US dollars). Of that, $ 2,020,561 was worth 2,744,080 kg of coffee. This puts Indonesia in fourth place among the importers of East Timorese coffee. There are also re- exports from East Timor to Indonesia worth US $ 5,243,000 (3rd place).

From Presidente Nicolau Lobato Airport in Dili there are connections to Kupang, Denpasar and Jakarta. From the heartland of East Timor there is a border crossing in Mota'ain , near the north coast, and in Motamasin , on the south coast to the Indonesian West Timor . There is no regular bus service. From the East Timorese exclave Oe-Cusse Ambeno, border crossings at Napan / Bobometo , Sacato / Wini and Passabe lead to West Timor. However, only Bobometo and Sacato are legal transitions.

Traditionally, there was a brisk trade between the East Timorese Tutuala and the Indonesian Leti Islands , among others Batik - sarongs . Since East Timor became independent in 2002, trade across national borders has declined.

Entry requirements

For East Timorese there is no visa in Indonesia.

Culture

Maria Vitória (2017)

Bahasa Indonesia is the working language in East Timor. As a result of the occupation, 36.6% of the population of East Timor can still speak, read and write Bahasa Indonesia, another 1.7% speak and read, 17.6% only read and 6.2% only speak. About 2,700 East Timorese residents speak Bahasa Indonesia as their mother tongue.

5,501 citizens of Indonesia live in East Timor. The number of East Timorese in Indonesia is very large, be it as guest workers or as students.

Dangdut , an Indonesian form of hit, is very popular in East Timor. In the second season of the Indonesian singing casting show D'Academy Asia (late 2016), in which candidates from several Southeast Asian countries took part and dandut songs were sung, the East Timorese Maria Vitória (MarVi) came fourth behind three Indonesians.

Indonesian elements can also be found in East Timorese cuisine .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wikinews, July 28, 2010, border disputes between Indonesia and Timor-Leste threaten to escalate
  2. ↑ Vivanews, November 7, 2009, Indonesia - E Timor under Borderline Dispute ( Memento of February 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Jakarta Post: RI, Timor Leste agree to resolve border problems, boost ties , August 27, 2015 , accessed August 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ RTP: Timor-Leste e Indonésia chegam a acordo para definição de fronteira terrestre , July 23, 2019 , accessed on July 23, 2019.
  5. ↑ Jakarta Post (ETAN), December 18, 2001, TNI Warns of W. Timor Rebels
  6. ↑ Jakarta Post (ETAN), February 26, 2005, Officials wary of Great Timor State
  7. ^ Geoffrey C. Gunn: History of Timor , available from the Centro de Estudos sobre África, Ásia e América Latina , CEsA of the TU Lisbon (PDF file; 805 kB).
  8. ^ East Timor Government: History
  9. ↑ a b c “Part 3: The History of the Conflict” (PDF; 1.4 MB) from the “Chega!” Report of the CAVR (English).
  10. ↑ Fundasaun Mahein: Nicolau Lobato: A Timorese Hero in Another Country , December 11, 2015 , accessed on December 14, 2015.
  11. ↑ Reuters: UN chief criticizes Timor-Indonesia "truth" body , July 27, 2007
  12. ↑ ABC, May 31, 2006, Serious Crimes Unit office looted in Dili
  13. ↑ The Jakarta Post, January 30, 2010, Govt to hand over more houses for former East Timor refugees ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2012 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.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thejakartapost.com
  14. ↑ Kate Lamb: East Timor's stolen children , Global Post, July 8, 2012 , accessed July 11, 2012.
  15. ↑ Facebook page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of East Timor: MNEK, 15 Outubru 2018 - Governu Timor-Leste liuhosi Ministeriu Negósius Estranjeirus no Kooperasaun, entrega simbólikamente ajuda umanitáriu ba vítimas dezastre natural (rai nakdoko no tsunamia iha loron 28, fulan Setembru liubá ho montante US $ 750,000, hanesan jéstu solidariedade Timor-Leste ba Indonézia. , accessed October 15, 2018.
  16. ^ Government of East Timor: Embaixadas de Timor-Leste , accessed on July 6, 2016.
  17. ↑ Embassy of Indonesia in Dili: List of agreements between Indonesia and East Timor ( memento of the original from April 24, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed on May 20, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kemlu.go.id
  18. ↑ The Diplomat, June 6, 2011, ASEAN Needs Timor-Leste , accessed May 20, 2012.
  19. ↑ Country information from the Federal Foreign Office - Timor-Leste - Foreign Policy: Section “Relations with ASEAN” , accessed December 2010.
  20. ↑ Direcção-Geral de Estatística : EXTERNAL TRADE STATISTICS ANNUAL REPORTS 2015 , accessed on May 20, 2017.
  21. ↑ Direcção-Geral de Estatística: External Trade Statistics Annual Reports 2018 , accessed on April 17, 2019.
  22. ↑ Sobar Sutisna and Sri Handoyo: "Delineation and Demarcation surveys of the land border in Timor: Indonesian perspective", Center for Boundary Mapping, The National Agency for Surveys and Mapping of Indonesia ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2011 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. , bakosurtanal.go.id  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bakosurtanal.go.id
  23. ↑ Lisa Palmer, Demétrio do Amaral de Carvalho : Nation building and resource management: The politics of 'nature' in Timor Leste ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / cultura.gov.tl 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. (PDF; 343 kB) , accessed on December 28, 2012
  24. ↑ Timor-Leste Passport Holders: List of Countries That Offer Visa Free Entry , June 24, 2018 , accessed October 14, 2018.
  25. ↑ Direcção-Geral de Estatística : Results of the 2015 census , accessed on November 23, 2016.
  26. ↑ Direcção Nacional de Estatística: Timor-Leste in figures 2011 (PDF; 3.8 MB) ( Memento of the original from February 19, 2014 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 May 5, 2013.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / dne.mof.gov.tl
  27. ↑ Selamat, Weni Jadi Juara Dangdut Academy Asia 2 . In: Liputan6.com . Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  28. ↑ Visit East Timor: Food of East Timor , accessed July 23, 2016.