wfn.org | ACNS - Anglicans Support Timorese Students

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ACNS 2973 - EAST TIMOR - 1 May 2002

Anglicans support Timorese Students

On 20 May 2002 East Timor will become the first new independent country of
the 21st century. This small Pacific Rim nation located just north of
Australia is emerging from a very turbulent history but, with international
assistance, the people of East Timor are facing the future with hope.

A number of Anglicans, including the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Richard
Harries, have announced their support for a new trust fund created to assist
Timorese students studying in the UK. The Ai-Kameli Trust has been
established to assist the students to complete advanced studies. (The word
Ai-Kameli means "sandalwood" in Tetum, the indigenous language of Timor.)

During the 1990's, a number of Timorese students sought political asylum in
foreign embassies in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Some of these
persons subsequently made their way to the UK via Portugal, and have been
living there in exile.

In 1975 East Timor - formerly a Portuguese colony - was occupied by its
neighbour, Indonesia. It was illegally annexed as a province of that
country, and for the next 25 years, a small but determined armed Timorese
movement resisted the Indonesian military occupation of their country. In
August 1999, following a change of government in Indonesia that saw a
softening of attitude towards Timorese autonomy, the people of East Timor
were allowed to vote for independence or continued integration with
Indonesia in a UN-sponsored referendum. They chose independence.

Indonesia withdrew from the territory amid scenes of chaos. Over 70 percent
of the country's infrastructure was destroyed, half of the population was
uprooted, and over two thousand people died. Many hundreds were driven
across the border into Indonesian West Timor as hostages by pro-Indonesian
Timorese militia groups. Australian and New Zealand military personnel were
sent urgently to the island to restore order as part of a UN-sanctioned
international force (InterFET). A transitional UN administration was
established, and parliamentary and presidential elections were held to
establish a Timorese government. The transitional UN administration will
hand over control to the Timorese government on 20 May 2002.

Many refugees and exiles are returning to East Timor to help rebuild their
country. Many of the UK-based Timorese students also wish to return to East
Timor. The aim of the Ai-Kameli Trust is to help equip them with relevant
knowledge and skills by sponsoring places for them at British universities
and colleges.

Dr Peter Carey, Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford and a co-founder of the
Trust, says, "We are currently prioritising certain areas of training in our
candidate selection procedures. For this current year, these are business
economics, law and telecommunications and we have been able to award three
full-time bursaries to students doing bachelor degrees in these fields. In
the longer term - once we have done our duty to the UK-based East Timorese
exile community - we will be providing support from those who will come
directly from East Timor."

Bishop Harries, who is one of the founding patrons of the Trust, has warmly
endorsed its work, saying, "The people of East Timor have suffered so much
they deserve all the support we can give them. Education is the key to
building a different society and it is so good that this Trust has been set
up to further this aim."

Further information about the Ai-Kameli Trust is available from
aikameli@yahoo.co.uk

Information about the development of East Timor is available from:
CIIR, Unit 3, Canonbury Yard, 190A New North Road, London N1 7BJ, UK.

_______________________________________________
The ACNSlist is published by the Anglican Communion Office, London.

Please send QUESTIONS or COMMENTS to acnslist@anglicancommunion.org. Any 
comments about the content of the article should be directed to the author. 
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this message, as any replies are discarded automatically.