austraLasia #1775

Situation tense in East Timor; Salesian work affected by violence and food shortage

DILI: 1st March 2007 --  News reports coming directly from Salesian sources in East Timor, but also reflected daily in the Australian press. Australia and New Zealand have put together a International Security Force (ISF) which has been in East Timor since they were invited last April-May amidst serious rioting which led to a number of deaths and more than 155,000 internally displaced persons.  Thousands took refuge at Don Bosco Comoro in Dili at that time, and several thousand are still there.
    Violence in the capital has continued.  A little more than a week ago, an Australian soldier fatally shot a Timorese youth near another refugee camp close to Dili airport.  The shooting was in self-defense.  A number of Salesians have had their vehicles stoned while moving about the city - these events are not necessarily aimed at particular persons, but mirror the instability in the nation and especially the capital in the lead-up to April's general elections. A serious point of dissension is the rebel former chief of police who has been holed up in an area south of Dili.  He is now surrounded by the ISF who are using tanks and Black Hawk helicopters in the effort to arrest him.  Major Alfredo Reinado has led a group of dissident police and other supporters since last April.  He vows to fight till the death.
    Rice supplies in East Timor have been severely affected by the failure of rice crops elsewhere, especially in Vietnam.  This has led to rocketing prices in the already strife-torn island of East Timor.
    The instability, high food prices, have meant the Salesians cannot maintian, for the moment, their boarding operations in places like Los Palos, Fuiloro, Venilale, Comoro.  It is not a question of money - food is simply not available, and continuing rioting in the capital has meant that many supplies have been  stolen from shops and government store houses.
    Several meetings, including the proposed Provincial Chapter this month (for the Timor part of ITM) may have to be relocated or postponed, the Salesian reports indicate.
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