Last September, as part of its approach to disarming militia groups all over West Timor, the TNI, or the Indonesian military, started the weapon 'buy-back' scheme, whereby militiamen are encouraged to surrender their weapons for some financial incentive. We are not really buying from them. We just compensate them for something like maintenance cost,' said West Timor military commander Colonel Budi Heryanto. Despite the attractive financial rewards, the buy-back scheme is yet to yield great results. It accounts for only 10 per cent of the 492 militia weapons seized by the TNI in West Timor since September.
Most militiamen are loathe to give up their guns.
However, the real reason may be financial. Weapons are perfect tools to intimidate East Timorese at campsites into staying on. It is in the militias' interests to sustain the number of refugees, because humanitarian aid to their sites are channeled through them as camp leaders. Others use the weapons for criminal activities, like robbing and extorting the people. Locals tell stories of how these men would flaunt their rifles and have grenades slung over their necks to bully shopkeepers and walk out of stores with free goods.