At the same time the Government maintains that Portugal has no right to prevent Australia and Indonesia from extracting oil from the Timor Sea. Trading human rights issues for a hypocritical but pragmatic stance, the Government considers East Timorese people to be Portuguese and Indonesian citizens of convenience. Being part of the Network Sanctuary Network members have offered either their homes as potential refuges or have pledged other resources including food, finance or publicity to the project. Churches would form the core of the activated Network while members' homes would be required as a secondary level of refuge. New membership details are periodically forwarded to the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Immigration as a demonstration of public support for the refugees and of public commitment to action on their behalf - a kind of petition putting the Government on notice.
Members wishing to be anonymous appear on public record in number only.
The refugees have a number of legal avenues to explore before deportation could become a threat. Hence, it is not anticipated that any activation of the Network would occur for at least several months. How ever given the numbers of people involved and the political sensitivity of the issue, we consider it highly unlikely that such legal action would be taken. Help us to expand the Network through links with other organisations and with your own publicity initiatives.