DILI, 6 december 2021 (TATOLI) – Twenty Timorese children who were removed from their families through Indonesian government policies during 24 years of occupation, will be reunited with their parents, family members, and loved ones in 2022, in Timor-Leste, said Hugo Fernandes, the Chief Executive Officer of Centro Nacional Chega!
More than 4.000 children were taken from Timor-Leste during the Indonesian occupation between 1975 and 1999. Some non-government organizations believe the real number is even higher.
“We had been cooperated with AJAR international to help us with searching for these children (now adults) who were taken to Indonesia. So far, we had found more than 220 of them, 96 had been reunited with their families. It means that more than 100 of them haven’t returned home to see their families,” Fernandes told TATOLI at his office, in Dili, on monday.
He said 20 of the stolen children will be reunited with their parents and loved ones in 2022.
“Due to Covid-19, therefore, we couldn’t reunite these 20 men with their families this year, but I am pretty sure that they will be returned home in 2022,” he said.
Searching for the stolen children required the cooperation of a number of non-governmental organizations and government institutions: “The team who had been working for the search of these children comprised of CHEGAS!, Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), Red Cross Timor-Leste (RCTL), Hakbiit NGO, and the Ministry of Social, Solidarity, and Inclusion (MoSSI), Timor-Leste’s Victim Association.”
Reunification required cooperation between the government of Indonesia and Timor-Leste.
“Some of these men don’t have passport and identity cards. So, they were transported by the relevant ministry of the Indonesian government to Timor-Leste,” he said.
Fernandes said among these 20 men, some live in Java, some in Sulawesi, while others in Maluku and etc.
Of the 4.000 children, Calistro Ali returned to Timor-Leste in 2020 to reunite with his family members in Ainaro municipality.
It was in 1977, at the Catholic Church in Ainaro, Timor-Leste, Kalistru and his friends were taken to Dili in an army Jeep, while his mother was still inside the church praying.
“I’m heartbroken because I left my mother at church. I feel guilty because if I hadn’t left her in the first place, I probably would’ve been by her side when she passed away. Maybe I’m lucky and I’ve had a better life. But mother and father, who lost their child, they must have been devastated,” said Ali.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
