Рет қаралды 254,163
(5 Oct 1999) Eng/Indonesian
An APTN camera crew was amongst the first group of foreign journalists to visit the western border of East Timor.
It's an area where neither international peacekeeping troops nor aid workers have been yet, although Australian soldiers have started making their way to the region.
The journalists found empty streets and ruined homes that belong to some 15-thousand East Timorese who have either been killed by marauding militias, or fled into the nearby hills.
Once a bustling market town, the streets of Maliana are now deserted and derelict.
The town saw some of the first violence which followed the announcement of the independence vote in East Timor.
Its 15-thousand inhabitants have either been killed by marauding anti-independence militias or fled into the nearby hills.
The only sign of life comes from the desperate few, brave enough to venture into the dusty ghost town to scavenge for food.
Francesco dos Santos, a teacher, ventured back to Maliana on Monday, when he heard helicopters overhead.
He told journalists how villagers fled the militia in September when shots and screams rang out from a police station where militias, soldiers and police had taken 20 townsmen and women.
SOUNDBITE: (Indonesian)
"On the 8th of September there was a massacre here in Maliana. Around 4.45 pm by two truck loads of militia. I was hiding under my bed with grandmother and auntie, and pretended to be asleep. I heard lots of screaming and gun shots but I was too afraid to see who was being killed."
SUPER CAPTION: Francesco Dos Santos, Maliana resident
Dos Santos says he'll return to Maliana when he sees Australian troops arrive and set up camp.
In the meantime, thousands of refugees remain hidden away in the mountains fearing the return of anti-independence militia.
Journalists also visited the towns of Odomuro and Bobonaro.
The sight of foreign media brought great excitement, villagers came down from the hills thinking the long awaited INTERFET troops had arrived bringing aid.
Many of the local population say they hope international troops arrive soon, and they hope their presence will pave the way to some degree of normalcy in their life.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"If they arrive already all the people that escaped into the forest will go back to their cities in order to look for their families that have gone away and we can try to bring them back to Maliana. If they are still alive we are happy and if they are already dead we just say it is a result, a consequence, of their new country."
SUPER CAPTION: Bobonaro resident
The speed with which INTERFET has mobilised and secured parts of East Timor has come under criticism for being too slow.
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