International Security Conference : Focus on East Timor

"Asia"

The Stockholm Forum for Security and Development drew representatives from 40 countries. 

They included politicians, organisations and researchers who came to speak about their own experiences, and to learn from others. 

The case of East Timor was in sharp focus.  

The country was first colonized by Portugal for 400 years, then invaded by Indonesia in 1975. 

A long civil war with Indonesia resulted in over 200,000 dead, before East Timor gained full independence in 2002. 

One of the delegates to the conference was Felicia Carvalho, a 30-year-old aid coodinator working for the East Timor gov’t. She remembers growing up in fear.

My grandparents were in a war, my mom was in a war in ’75 when the Portuguese left. My generation, is 1999 when we got independence. When you experience a conflict, something happening to you, you understand.”

Even after gaining independence from Indonesia--- internal violence erupted again in 2006.

Houses were burnt and thousands displaced. But that’s past us, says Felicia Carvalho: 

We know 2006 won’t happen, and we will make sure 2006 won’t happen. Because after what we’ve been through for generations, it’s time.” 

The new country had to replace the entire Indonesian run civil service with Timorese, a difficult process, where a legacy of violence is ingrained. 

Emilie Pires is East Timor’s Minister of Finance.  “Colonization, 24 years of occupation and 2 or 3 years of hard difficult transition. All these things have to be taken into consideration because the people that you are working with have faced that. They’re traumatized and no one worries about, though that has a huge impact on their everyday work.”

Violence between young marshall art gangs on the streets of the capital Dili, has been a major issue for Independent East Timor. 

”Actually now we have a new law that forbids them to use marshall arts for bad things. At the same time we’re increasing our vocational training so they get some skills.  We invested a lot in sports. In arts.” 

It was important to have a role model. So the government called on Jacky Chan to work with the youth. And Minister Emilia Pires says the government has succeeded in making people feel safe. She referred to a recent report by the IRI, a USAID supported democracy building institute.

It showed that according to the population that security is no longer the priority., because they feel they are safe. Which is a bit of an indication that the police and the army must be doing their jobs.”

East Timor received a huge amount of foreign aid following Indonesias bloody withdrawal. 

The World Bank built schools and has given small business loans to young people.

Sarah Cliffe was the World Bank East Timor Mission Chief from 1999 to 2002. The youth have been much more engaged in productive employment, in starting small businesses in taking part in reconstruction and that’s a practical economic thing, a physical thing, but it’s also a sense of changed attitudes and mindset.”

But other speakers at the forum like  Zainab Bangura, UN special representative in Sierra Leone argued that developing countries can not and should not rely on foreign aid.

“We can never solve the problem in any country, without supporting the people to take the lead. It’s their country, it’s their problem.”

East Timor has come into new found wealth due to oil discoveries. Now the country desperately needs skilled workers. Those with an education abroad should return to East Timor, says Felicia Carvalho. “It’s good to have a dream, and it’s good to be part of when you can contribute something to the country.”

• Sweden
• East Timor
• Emilie Pires
• Conference
• Ric Wasserman