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East Timor: Timorese Resistance
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Many East Timorese people are descendants of the Tetum, who traditionally inhabited the south central area of the island. These people speak the Tetum language, a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family. Other smaller ethnic groups, many with their own languages, live in small, scattered communities.
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For the Portuguese, East Timor remained little more than a neglected trading post until the late nineteenth century. Investment in infrastructure, health, and education was minimal. Sandalwood remained the main export crop with coffee exports becoming significant in the mid-nineteenth century. In places where Portuguese rule was asserted, it tended to be brutal and exploitative. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a faltering home economy prompted the Portuguese to extract greater wealth from its colonies which met Timorese resistance.[9]
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Immediately after the results were announced, the TNI made good on its threats; a new shockwave of violence tore through East Timor. International journalists fled, and the UN threatened to pull its staff out. (A few courageous workers insisted on staying in the Dili compound, a site of refuge for hundreds of terrified Timorese.) IFET was forced out, and fear rippled across the region. Thousands were killed.
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The Muslim community consists of ethnic East Timorese, longtime residents of Arab descent, and ethnic Malay migrants from other parts of Indonesia who have lived in East Timor for many years. The former groups were well integrated into East Timorese society, but the latter group experienced some harassment. On December 4, an automobile in front of the Dili mosque, which was inhabited by ethnic Malay Muslim migrants who initially fled from East Timor during the violent period in September of 1999, was burned and windows in the mosque were broken (see Section 2.b.).
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It is crucial that immediate international action is initiated to assist the East Timorese. An advanced party of peacemakers must go to the territory urgently. Those nations with troops at the ready should be sent without delay.
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Agriculture dominates the East Timorese economy, accounting for over 30 per cent of GDP and approximately 70 per cent of employment. Insufficient food production (from an average landholding of 1.2 hectares) and an underdeveloped local market have led to a dependency on imports. Transforming subsistence farming, which dominates the agriculture sector, into an export-oriented industry, is a challenge. Key crops such as coffee and vanilla, and potentially candlenut and palm oil, will be targeted for increased capital investment.
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Timorese Resistance