East Timor, Return of Internally Displaced Persons.txt

(Photos taken 27 Oct-1 Nov 1999)

01. East Timorese IDPs wait at Kupang, West Timor, to board a ship which will take them home to
Dili, the East Timor capital. As of end October, nearly 23,000 IDPs have returned since the
repatriation operation began three weeks earlier.

02,03. Returnees arrive in Dili on the "Lambelu" which was chartered by the International
Organisation for Migration, one of UNHCR's partner agencies. The ship holds some 2000 passengers.

04. Returnee child at Dili port.

05. A newly arrived returnee from Kupang, the West Timor capital. Many have no place to go to
because their homes were devastated during the militia rampage following the August 30 referendum
on East Timor.

06. On arrival, returnees are registered and receive a repatriation kit which includes plastic
sheeting, a blanket, a jerrycan and soap. Dili port, East Timor.

07. Unloading of rice supplied by WFP (World Food Program). It will be distributed at different
collection points in Dili, the East Timor capital.

08. In addition to organised repatriation by air and by sea, East Timorese IDPs started
returning spontaneously from West Timor. Seen here is a group of returnees arriving on foot
in the Maliana district of East Timor.

09. A group of returnees who crossed the West-East Timor border on foot. Many are exhausted
and dehydrated after spending weeks in squalid makeshift camps.

10. The homes of many East Timorese were devastated during the miilitia rampage following the
August 30 ballot on self-determination. Dili, East Timor.

11. Many IDPs started returning spontaneously, crossing the West-East Timor border on foot.
UNHCR and its partner agencies set up reception points to distribute plastic sheeting, blankets,
jerrycans and soap. Maliana, East Timor.

12. The homes of many East Timorese were devastated during the militia rampage following the
August 30 ballot on self-determination. UNHCR is supplying timber, nails and plastic sheeting
to help returnees build shelters. Dili, East Timor.



ALL PHOTOS: UNHCR/ M. Kobayashi