It is now nine months since over half of East Timor s population was forced across the border to West Timor. The 130,000 refugees who remain do not represent the 20 per cent who voted for integration. They represent a population living in fear and confusion, the majority of whom would return home under the right circumstances. The recent floods are just another blow to their psychological wellbeing. Health conditions have improved and the death rate has decreased but this is still not a stable situation.
Malnutrition is high, as are chronic eye and skin conditions.
There is the danger of those in West Timor developing chronic refugee syndrome , whereby the population becomes dependent on refugee aid. This would have disastrous consequences not only for the refugees but also for the local West Timorese population. At the moment there is an uneasy truce between the two populations but this is unlikely to last. West Timor is one of the poorest regions in Indonesia and refugees occupy valuable rice land. At the end of May, there was a bitter clash in Tuapukan between refugees and local people which left four people seriously wounded.