A People Rebuilding: East Timor Case Study Click on the following links for further information about this case study: Teacher's Notes Student Activities Introduction East Timor is one of Australia's nearest neighbours, only 480 kilometres north of Darwin. It consists of the eastern part of Timor Island, a small enclave called Oecussi (within West Timor) and two nearby islands. The island of Timor is volcanic, mountainous and has dense rainforest areas. It has two seasons - wet and dry. Farming is carried out in the reasonably flat southern part of East Timor. Recent History The first recorded European contact with Timor was the Portuguese in 1514. The Portuguese occupied the eastern half of the island, while the Dutch later settled the western half. Strong ties with Australia grew out of the support of East Timorese for Australian soldiers who fought there against the Japanese. An estimated 60 000 Timorese (13% of the population) died during the war. When the Republic of Indonesia came into being in 1949, East Timor remained a Portuguese colony. In 1975, after Portugal moved out, a resistance group called FRETILIN (the Revolutionary Front for an Independent Timor) declared East Timor to be an independent republic. On 7 December, 1975, Indonesian armed forces invaded East Timor. In early 1999, the Indonesian Government decided to permit a ballot to determine whether East Timor would be an independent nation state or an autonomous province under Indonesian administration. On 30 August, 1999, this ballot was held, with 98% of the population registering to vote and of those almost 80% voted for independence. Much social unrest surrounded the ballot and much of the infrastructure in Dili and in the enclave of Oecussi was destroyed. A People Rebuilding Successive peacekeeping forces have managed to restore security to East Timor. Aid agencies had instigated large-scale emergency relief efforts (food provision, shelter, health) in the midst of the violence of 1999. These efforts will continue throughout 2000, until the next cycle of crops are harvested and therefore the food source is secure, East Timorese have shelter and basic health care. In addition, extensive work is now being undertaken to identify and repatriate the many people who moved to other parts of Indonesia. This includes the existing refugees in West Timor. An East Timorese boy sells grain in Dili Market. The market has come back to life since peace was restored.   East Timorese people now have the big task of rebuilding and making the people feel safe to live the way they choose. They are doing this in partnership with the United Nations, aid donors such as Australia, international banks and many non-government humanitarian agencies. The main dimensions of the rebuilding include: continuing emergency relief (food and health), particularly in the Oecussi enclave; nationwide immunisation and disease prevention campaign (against malaria, dengue fever, measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria, polio, tetanus and pertussis); repatriation of refugees and internally displaced people; planting of crops; Though school books and equipment are in short supply in East Timor, there is no shortage of dedicated people working to restore the education system.   rehabilitation of social and economic infrastructure and public administration; capacity building for self-governance; establishing the conditions for sustainable development; co-ordination of international development assistance; rebuilding and reopening of schools. Australia has made a long-term commitment to the future of East Timor. Now, with significant Australian and wider international community support, East Timor has the possibility for reconciliation within its own community, and for sound and peaceful development as the world's newest nation.   Top © Commonwealth of Australia