As of last weekend, with the total evacuation of all UN and international staff from West Timor, the role of caring for the refugee community has passed to the Indonesian military. For many, the thought of a pro-militia military now acting as the sole protector and provider for the camps is all too frightening. But that is precisely where the militia have succeeded. The murders have brought about a total UN withdrawal - effectively removing even the most rudimentary forms of international scrutiny from the camps. Terrorism, it seems, at least for a season, has worked.
Nobody really knows.
But given the number of false starts over the past year, it's prudent to remain sceptical. What is at stake here is not just the lives of 100,000 civilians. Also at stake is the international credibility of the new Indonesian nation state, born amid such optimism a little more than a year ago. For if the military continues to run its own affairs in defiance of the democratically elected government, it has profound implications for the security of places such as Maluku, Irian Jaya and Ambon, not to mention the general stability of our largest and most important neighbor. Australia's responsibility is not to allow the refugee crisis to slip quietly once again below the international radar screens.