[E]ast Timor is one of the poorest countries in the world coming off the back of decades of brutal Indonesian rule.
Yet, this tiny nation is slowly recovering from 25 years of occupation by the Indonesians who invaded in 1975 murdering more than 100,000 people – as Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam turned his back on the invasion of the island nation; 16 years later hundreds more were slaughtered in the 1991 Dili massacre as the world once again stood by…
Finally, in 1999, after a vote for independence and the death of hundreds more East Timorese citizens, at the hands of TNI Militia, Australian led INTERFET troops stopped the carnage and removed the Indonesian backed TNI from East Timor.
Ten years on from independence and East Timor is finally gaining its feet.
Whilst most families live on less than $80 a month… and there are hundreds of orphans missing out on government aid, the East Timorese are a proud and resilient people, determined to carve out a future for themselves… both young and old.
East Timor is finally on the road to recovery…
(East Timor – Road to Recovery, January 2011)
My family and I escaped Timor when I was 1 so I can barely remember it. My mother has explained to me in graphic detail of the civil war during the period that we managed to escape East Timor. I have been there recently and it is nice to see that they are recovering, even after the 2007 riots and rebuilding.
My family escaped East Timor after the Dili massacre in 1991 – two things it is great to see East Timor being highlighted in the media and great to see the Indonesians are out of my homeland
My family escaped East Timor after the Dili massacre in 1991 – two things it is great to see East Timor beibng highlight in the media and great to see the Indonesians are out of my homeland
I can remember the invasion of Timor. These people were abandoned by the Portuguese and the Aussies and left to the mercy of the Indonesians.
The same is now happening in West Papua; and the Western world again turn their back.
Good to see East Timor is slowly recovering despite such poverty.