Relief organizations. journalists. church groups. and other foreigners were thrown out of East Timor. and a blanket of silence thrown over Indonesian activities in the area for the next 5 years. Last year. news reports began trickling out of Indonesia that hundreds of thousands of East Timorese who had fled to the mountains to escape the Indonesian military were now drifting down into Indonesiancontrolled areas. The appalling physical condition of these people is evidence that the Indonesian militarys extensive bombing of villages. hamlets. and cropland had the effect of pacifying the populatlorq and forcing the sick and starving refugees into Indonesian military camps. Estimates of the number of deaths from war. disease. and starvation vary from onetenththe Government of Indonesias claimto onehalfmestimates by church and human rights groupsof the approximately 700.000 East Timorese recorded in a 1974 church census. By any calculation. however. the Indonesian military incursion has clearly devastated East Timor.
Keywords matched
refugees