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See the Road Well SHAPING EAST TIMOR’S FRONTIER

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See the Road Well SHAPING EAST TIMOR’S FRONTIER See the Road Well SHAPING EAST TIMOR’S FRONTIER NEIL SUGGET Pandanus Online Publications, found at the Pandanus Books web site, presents additional material relating to this book. www.pandanusbooks.com.au See the Road Well See the Road Well Shaping East Timor’s frontier Neil Sugget PANDANUS BOOKS Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Cover: The climb through the hills on the bus to Dili begins. Photograph by Neil Sugget © Neil Sugget 2005 This book is copyright in all countries subscribing to the Berne convention. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Typeset in Garamond 11pt on 13.25pt and printed by Pirion, Canberra National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Sugget, Neil. See the road well : shaping East Timor’s frontier. ISBN 1 74076 131 6. 1. Political atrocities — East Timor. 2. East Timor — History — Autonomy and independence movements. I. Australian National University. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. II. Title. 320.9598 Editorial inquiries please contact Pandanus Books on 02 6125 3269 www.pandanusbooks.com.au Published by Pandanus Books, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 Australia Pandanus Books are distributed by UNIREPS, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052 Telephone 02 9664 0999 Fax 02 9664 5420 Production: Ian Templeman, Duncan Beard, Emily Brissenden For Rebecca, Ben and Jemma Acknowledgements nitially, I set out to simply make a typed copy of my diary, Iinterspersed with a few photos and documents. Something that family and friends could read if they were interested. A simple matter really. Just decipher my handwritten scrawls and a few weeks later it would be finished. Not so easily done. As I got into it, I started to realise I had a lot to say about my time in Timor. I changed from simple storyteller to a person who realised that maybe East Timor had become old news in Australia as a new age of terrorism dominated the media. Maybe I could help people remember one of Australia’s closest neighbours. Sari Mattila (at the time working in Customs’ media area) told me that the experience would interest others; it might be something that was worth publishing. I didn’t think so, but after some persistent encouragement, I thought I’d give it a go. I had the stories but my written bumblings needed to be turned into English. Sari quickly found out that her promise to help meant more than she had bargained for. If we had known how much work was required I am not sure either of us would have started. Although I went to East Timor as part of a team from Western Australia, soon after my return I found myself on the other side of the country, so I decided to write the story I remembered. The stories would not exist if Adrian Dandeker, Rick Brook, Lorraine Otieno, Jeff Michael and Peter had not been there with me. I thank them for their efforts and I am sure some of the ‘I’ or ‘we’ in the stories was probably them. They have kindly agreed to allow me to use a few of their photographs. ix Thanks also to the support team in Fremantle and Canberra who backed the deployment, particularly my boss Brian Hurrell, Alan Wilson, who set up the first seeds of our deployment, and Adam Campbell who supported us tirelessly. There was also the other half of the deployment who trained with us before our departure and then took our place. Stan Davis, Louise Moore, Terry Davies, Phil Davis, Ron Dyer, Phil Taylor and Jenny Stokes all played vital roles. During my time in Dili, I sometimes doodled cartoon strips that summed up my frustrations. It took the writing process for me to realise that I wasn’t much of a writer, but I had always known I couldn’t draw. Many thanks to Judy Stephens for cleverly turning my doodles into a fine comic strip. Her clever artwork helped me to recall some of the stories and although the structure of the book didn’t allow for its inclusion the artwork now hangs proudly on my wall. Vlado Korenic developed some great initial cover design concepts. Thanks also to Jenny Robinson, who read the first manuscript for us despite the need for a few glasses of wine to enable her to understand my first effort. Also thanks to Margaret Brine, who gently assisted in gaining approval from my CEO. The story wouldn’t exist without the East Timorese. I wish them well and thank them for their hospitality and understanding, particularly Cancio D’Oliveira and all those mentioned in this book. Thanks again to Sari for the continuing nudges and behind the scenes work, such as editing, finding a publisher and the hours of playing with photographs and video. My family lost a father and my mother a lifelong friend just three months before my deployment to East Timor. Many East Timorese also lost family and friends. This book is dedicated to those who have passed away and, just as importantly, those who were left behind to carry on. Contents Acknowledgements viii Preface xiii Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Arriving in Dili — a front-row seat 7 Chapter 2 Chitties, sights and sounds 14 Chapter 3 Whose home is it? 22 Chapter 4 A glimpse into the Border Service 26 Chapter 5 Refugee vessel — homecoming 32 Chapter 6 Hera Port 40 Chapter 7 Early politics 48 Chapter 8 Exploring the possibilities 54 Chapter 9 The things we did 65 Chapter 10 The light is brighter across the road 73 Chapter 11 Feelings in the heat 84 Chapter 12 Frustrations 95 Chapter 13 East Timorese have their say 101 Chapter 14 Road to the border 112 Chapter 15 Anzac Day 122 Chapter 16 We’re in place 133 Chapter 17 At the border 143 Chapter 18 Nunura market 152 Chapter 19 Local staff arrive 161 Chapter 20 Sunday best 169 Chapter 21 Open for business 178 Chapter 22 Trouble 191 Chapter 23 The woman and her money 198 Chapter 24 What have we done? 205 Chapter 25 Oecussi enclave 213 Chapter 26 Village life 223 Chapter 27 Can’t wait to tell you everything, but … 234 Chapter 28 See the road well 246 Epilogue Since our departure 251 Glossary 259 Preface he path to freedom and reconstruction is not an easy one. TMany of the stories within this book demonstrate the frustration felt by our contingent as we tried to do our bit for the reconstruction of East Timor. Similarly, there were times when it was obvious that the East Timorese were finding it difficult to comprehend what sometimes appeared to be a slow-moving, unfeeling international program. It was not uncommon for everybody to wonder what, if anything, was being achieved. I would be surprised if you don’t share their frustration or question some of the decision-making processes as you follow the progress of the mission. Since my return from East Timor, I have shared other experiences and have had plenty of time to wonder for myself. The world has clearly changed since 2000. I hope that the few examples below may help you to better understand the environment in which the stories unfolded. East Timor has been colonised or controlled by foreigners since the 1600s. Their new-found freedom is their first go at it for some time and they need time to adapt. They are still justifiably sensitive to any insinuation of foreign control. People working with or trying to assist the East Timorese need to avoid the development of a colonial ruler mentality. It is not always easy. Although this book is primarily about the deployment of a team of Customs officers, the overpowering presence of the Peacekeeping Force (PKF) and its effect on everyday life in East Timor meant it would have been impossible to document our experiences without constant reference to them. xiv The difficult role faced by members of the PKF cannot be underestimated. It is never going to be easy to be a law enforcement officer and a soldier. Both groups exist to maintain the peace. The hard bit is that both groups normally operate in clearly defined and very separate environments. I recall a discussion I had with a senior policeman who had trained many soldiers for policing duties on other peacekeeping missions. He related a story about a European regiment which, when being trained to deal with a civilian street riot, resolved the situation by shooting the crowd. When questioned about this inappropriate use of force, the soldiers explained that they had tried to calm the crowd. Unfortunately, the refusal of the crowd to obey their commands had in their minds created a threat that needed to be dispatched. The policeman went on to say that the soldiers had completed their training and went on to perform with distinction; so well, in fact, that on their return home, their commanding officer wrote a letter to the policeman praising him for his efforts. He was grateful for the training that had enabled his men to complete their duties to such a high standard and, just as importantly, to all return home safely. The commanding officer’s final comment displayed the enormity of what had been expected of his men. He wrote that, although he was very grateful to the policeman, he would now need to spend the next two years turning his men into soldiers again.
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