austraLasia 1570
Timor update - Bro. Adriano hit by stone-throwing mob
DILI: 31st May 2006 -- With more than 1,500 troops now in Dili, Australia is keeping a close eye on the very difficult situation theres (things are calmer elsewhere in the isalnd); the Don Bosco Centre at Comoro has been the setting for a little too much of the action, and the Salesian Sisters too, have been dealing with large numbers of refugees. Two Australian news outlets, one Catholic the other national radio, have been following events. One of these events highlights the quite dangerous circumstances our community has found itself in as it responds heroically to the needs of thousands of ordinary people.
Monday was a bad day. The Chief Executive of World Vision is an Australian Baptist minister, Rev. Tim Costello. He reports: "Our staff here have been under fire. Their compound had to be evacuated. The very work of getting food and water into some 25,000 refugees in three camps - the Don Bosco camp is one we're going to, and two convents - would be at risk if we had to evacuate, and we now have to make that decision because of the security situation".
And in fact, not only because World Vision had to evacuate but also because an Australian contingent of troops were ordered elsewhere at a critical moment, things took a turn for the worse. From Cathnews reporting the Sydney Morning Herald: " The head of Don Bosco mission in East Timor has been attacked by a stone-throwing mob as he drove victims of a gunfight to hospital while Australian troops struggle to restore order in the divided capital Dili. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that just minutes after Australian peacekeepers departed from the Catholic mission of Don Bosco, a gunfight broke out. Two men were shot and wounded, one in the leg and the other in the abdomen. The head of the mission, Br Adriano de Jesus, said a squad of troops had been guarding the mission but pulled out when they were ordered to go elsewhere. "We asked them not to leave," Br de Jesus said. "But they said they had to go. Straight away the fighting broke out again and [the two men] were shot."
As he drove the victims to hospital, the vehicle was attacked by a mob throwing stones, and Br De Jesus was hit on the head. "The fighting is getting worse and the Australian troops are only watching the Timorese kill each other." On the main road between the airport and the city, pitched battles raged all day. At one point Australians soldiers drove by at great speed in their armoured personnel carriers as a man was dragged from his car and beaten.
That was Monday. Reports suggest that the situation has improved in the past 24 hours - the Australian contingent was operating under strict rules of engagement which have hampered their ability to deal with situations. The President Xanana Gusmao has now assumed direct control of the local armed forces and police and is the immediate liaison with the foreign troops he has invited in to help. That in itself has been a calming situation. With improved security the urgent need now is for food to continue to be distributed to residents and refugees and for sanitation to be improved, especially where refugees are gathered in their thousands.
The Australian Defence Ministry indicates that their current plan for troops in East Timor is a six month deployment.
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AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please
contact admin@bosconet.aust.com Try out BoscoWiki to be interactive. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xm
Timor update - Bro. Adriano hit by stone-throwing mob
DILI: 31st May 2006 -- With more than 1,500 troops now in Dili, Australia is keeping a close eye on the very difficult situation theres (things are calmer elsewhere in the isalnd); the Don Bosco Centre at Comoro has been the setting for a little too much of the action, and the Salesian Sisters too, have been dealing with large numbers of refugees. Two Australian news outlets, one Catholic the other national radio, have been following events. One of these events highlights the quite dangerous circumstances our community has found itself in as it responds heroically to the needs of thousands of ordinary people.
Monday was a bad day. The Chief Executive of World Vision is an Australian Baptist minister, Rev. Tim Costello. He reports: "Our staff here have been under fire. Their compound had to be evacuated. The very work of getting food and water into some 25,000 refugees in three camps - the Don Bosco camp is one we're going to, and two convents - would be at risk if we had to evacuate, and we now have to make that decision because of the security situation".
And in fact, not only because World Vision had to evacuate but also because an Australian contingent of troops were ordered elsewhere at a critical moment, things took a turn for the worse. From Cathnews reporting the Sydney Morning Herald: " The head of Don Bosco mission in East Timor has been attacked by a stone-throwing mob as he drove victims of a gunfight to hospital while Australian troops struggle to restore order in the divided capital Dili. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that just minutes after Australian peacekeepers departed from the Catholic mission of Don Bosco, a gunfight broke out. Two men were shot and wounded, one in the leg and the other in the abdomen. The head of the mission, Br Adriano de Jesus, said a squad of troops had been guarding the mission but pulled out when they were ordered to go elsewhere. "We asked them not to leave," Br de Jesus said. "But they said they had to go. Straight away the fighting broke out again and [the two men] were shot."
As he drove the victims to hospital, the vehicle was attacked by a mob throwing stones, and Br De Jesus was hit on the head. "The fighting is getting worse and the Australian troops are only watching the Timorese kill each other." On the main road between the airport and the city, pitched battles raged all day. At one point Australians soldiers drove by at great speed in their armoured personnel carriers as a man was dragged from his car and beaten.
That was Monday. Reports suggest that the situation has improved in the past 24 hours - the Australian contingent was operating under strict rules of engagement which have hampered their ability to deal with situations. The President Xanana Gusmao has now assumed direct control of the local armed forces and police and is the immediate liaison with the foreign troops he has invited in to help. That in itself has been a calming situation. With improved security the urgent need now is for food to continue to be distributed to residents and refugees and for sanitation to be improved, especially where refugees are gathered in their thousands.
The Australian Defence Ministry indicates that their current plan for troops in East Timor is a six month deployment.
__________________________________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please
contact admin@bosconet.aust.com Try out BoscoWiki to be interactive. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xm
