DILI, 22 november 2024 (TATOLI) – The Chega National Centre (CNC), in collaboration with Indonesia, is reuniting children missing during the 1975-1999 conflict, which is composed of Adolfo Laranjeira, Lekiloi, Fernando Besekai, Fabião Tilman Viegas, and Celestina Gaio with their families.
CNC Executive Director Hugo Fernandes said that the initiative aims to reunite Timorese people who went missing during the conflict with their families, as they were forced by the Indonesian military to emigrate to Indonesian territory.
“The governments of Timor Leste and Indonesia have undertaken reunification activities as a form of reparation for victims of war, especially children who went missing during the war, so that they can be reunited with their families. Both governments have an obligation to search for the whereabouts of Timorese citizens who disappeared because they were forced to join the Indonesian military,” he told reporters at the reunification ceremony in Balide Dili.
Fernandes also said that the five will be in Timor-Leste until the 30th of this month to meet with their families in their hometowns in the municipalities of Baucau, Bobonaro, and Viqueque before returning to Indonesia.
He also said that since 2017 the CNC, in collaboration with Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Red Cross, and the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Timor-Leste, has facilitated the reunification of 101 missing Timorese children with their families.
Fernandes took the opportunity to inform the community that if they feel that their relatives went missing during the conflict, they can go to the CNC working group office in Dili to fill out a form to facilitate the process of locating them in Indonesian territory.
Celestina Gaio, 43, was thrilled to have the opportunity to find her brother after 26 years of separation from their family.
“Reunification made me happy, and I was so excited, as if it was a dream come true. When I arrived at the airport, I was so excited because I was greeted by so many people. What touched me the most was that I was greeted by my brother,” she told TATOLI.
When asked about her plans for the future, Celestina Gaio, who currently lives in Sulawesi province, said that she would endeavor to obtain all the legal documents to return home and live with her family in Timor-Leste.
José Gaio, Celestina Gaio’s brother, said that for more than 20 years the family has made various attempts to find his sister, but nothing has happened.
In 2017, he managed to find his sister on the social network Facebook; since then, they have exchanged phone numbers and finally managed to meet the family.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Rafael Ximenes de A. Belo
