That vote spurred a devastating campaign of terror and violence by pro-Indonesian militias and elements of the Indonesian military. The violence displaced approximately 500,000 people - sixty percent of the population. Many fled to West Timor, where approximately 60,000 - 100,000 of them still live in unsafe and unsanitary refugee camps, under continued militia intimidation. The vote also led to the exodus of Indonesian administrators, teachers, doctors and business people. The people of East Timor were left with a physical infrastructure in ruins, a shattered economy, and no government institutions.
Urban unemployment is very high.
Schools, hospitals, communication facilities and power plants, badly damaged or destroyed during the post-referendum violence, are only slowly being rehabilitated. The project has established four clinics to provide basic health services to coffee farmers and their families, which are supported through a portion of coffee profits. Election Support Activities. Activities include training for political parties and the media, plus support for civil society, voter education, and election monitoring initiatives. Following the elections, the grantees will support a variety of activities to assist the East Timorese as they attain full independence and begin to consolidate their democracy.