President Horta Return From China no Comment on Refugees Centre

The President of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta has returned to East Timor after attending the Shanghai Expo.


According to the Head of State the Expo was very successful, however the when asked about other matters the President refused to comment.


"I will only talk about the Expo and no other matters because I have just returned. If there are any other questions will talk in the next coming week.”


First of all Mr. Ramos-Horta congratulated the Chinese Government. "I would like to congratulate the Chinese authorities who made this Expo event bigger than any other previous Expo," said Ramos-Horta.


Mr. Ramos-Horta also praised East Timor's General Commissioner to the Shanghai Expo, Mr. Agio Pereira (Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers) and his two deputies for their hard work for the event.


Despite saying he would not discuss other matters the LUSA correspondent present at the press conference asked a question in regard to East Timor becoming a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). President Ramos- Horta gave a positive answer. However, the Head of State rejected to comment on the National Parliament’s recent and unanimous rejection of the Australian PM's proposal to build a processing centre in East Timor for asylum seekers and refugees seeking admission to Australia. "Sorry I am not answering that," President Ramos-Horta said.


Ramos-Horta promised will talk about the issue after discussing the matter with the Prime Minister of East Timor, Xanana Gusmao.


Futhermore, President Ramos-Horta chastised Jose Belo the editor in chief of Tempo Semanal who recently published an Opinion Editorial Sydney Morning Herald on 16 July. "I am not as intelligent as a certain journalist who wrote an opinion piece for a foreign newspaper who have strong opinions on this issue," criticized Horta.


Editorial UPDATE:

"I am very happy today when i saw my Timorese journalist veteran and now my President angry at me because it makes me remember a message from my mentor Max Stahl, when he told me that a good article or story is when made those in the story are made angry ," said Jose Belo.

In September 2009 President Jose Ramos-Horta awarded a Medal of Recognition to Tempo Semanal for its work in Journalism in Timor-Leste. During the award ceremony Horta "in his remark says that if later Jose Belo and Tempo Semanal would target him in the future no problem."

Australia: No to a Pipeline to Timor for Gas, but Yes to a Pipeline to Timor for Refugees.

Jose Belo, Editor, Tempo Semanal

On 6 July 2010 Julia Gillard, newly appointed Prime Minister of Australia after deposing former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a Cabinet meeting room, has demonstrated that she knows less about Timor-Leste than her predecessor; and shows as little inclination to deal with a neighbor as a friend on equal terms.  It would seem that she prefers to use Timor-Leste for domestic political purposes. Prime Minister Gilliard, has after a meeting with President Horta, announced without consulting with the Timorese Government, an Australian policy to set up a pipeline of Australia bound asylum seekers to Timor-Leste to what is called a "regional processing centre".  

Ever since its White Australia policy came to an end not so long ago the matter of illegal immigrants, and asylum seekers has been a hot political issues in Australian domestic politics pitting the left versus the right.

However, while the Australian Government seems unwilling to assist Timor-Leste in leveraging Woodside, a major Australian petro firm, into developing downstream pipeline and refinery facilities in Timor-Leste it seems quite happy to unilaterally announce that it seeks to build a "pipeline" to a processing centre for refugees and asylum seekers in Timor-Leste.  So Australia gets the oil and gas and Timor-Leste gets the asylum seekers.  Sounds like a bad deal.  Especially when one considers that the oil and gas is Timor-Leste's, while the asylum seekers are seeking refuge in Australia.

Timorese reaction was been swift.  Vice Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres has said its not desirable, many Members of Parliament and civil society have strongly rejected the proposal.  However on 8 July Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, in what is no doubt a cute political trick, has suggested that President Ramos-Horta continue discussions with Prime Minister Gilliard.  Political trick?  Well Gusmao knows that Ramos-Horta has no constitutional competency in this area, and so any deal struck can be cast aside.  Unless of course Prime Minister Gusmao is seeking to cut a deal - one which sees the Australian Government strong arming Woodside into a pipeline north to a Timorese LNG refinery in exchange for establishing an processing centre for asylum seekers in Timor-Leste.

This however is likely moot as Woodside appears immovable and ultimately its bosses are shareholders and not voters. Although one has to consider that if it chooses Canberra can make life easy or hard for Woodside in many different ways.

What is however entirely clear is that Timor-Leste lacks the political interest in a refugee processing centre, domestic political opinion is very much not positive.  Additionally, who would run it? Timorese institutions have enough trouble managing their own affairs. Its hard to envsion a well run processing centre in Timor-Leste, unless its run by the Australians, which is certainly not going to be political acceptable.  Even then would Australia run a centre which is amenable to Timorese sensibilities?  Australia talks about multi-lateral organisations running a centre, such as IOM and UNHCR - which is just a smoke screen for an "Aussie" project.

Australia;s main processing centre Christmas Island is full and being expanded.  But when space is limited look to Timor-Leste it would seem.

They did this in Nauru in 2002/3. At one stage Canberra had over 1300 Afghans, Iraqis and others holed up in substandard conditions, in a legal limbo at a Nauru processing centre in 2004.   Australia paid $30 million to the Government of Nauru to operate the centre.  It ended up in massive cost overruns, hunger strikes, human rights abuses - and international castigation.  

But Timor-Leste is not Nauru.  Prime Minister Gillard best remember this.

This is a refugee boat landing in Christmas Island in March 2010 - Australia's primary offshore refugee processing centre - with capacity for 2,300 its nearly full.

This is an Afghan refugee asylum seeker in Nauru in 2003.  Having stitched his mouth for a hunger strike protesting conditions in Nauru.

This is the Christmas Island Detention/Processing Centre in 2009.