Young Timorese Come Together to Make Their Neighborhood Safe

Dili, Timor-Leste, June 26, 2006 -- If you ask people in Dili what the safest suburb is in this city affected by Timor-Leste’s recent conflict, they will say it is Taibessi. Taibessi is an old suburb in the eastern part of the city. Since the conflict began in late April, many houses have been damaged and burned down and many people have had to flee to safety. Almost every corner of Dili has been covered by the smoke from burning houses. But this is not so in Taibessi.

 

The east-west conflict that erupted in April has led to riots, arson, looting and gunfire around Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste.

To protect their area and to reduce the risk of gangs destroying the neighborhood, all the young people of Taibessi have come together to patrol their area at night. Two staff members from the World Bank Timor-Leste office - Acacio de Oliveira and Luis Sequeira - have been part of those patrols.

"We look after each other like families"

“We have been doing the patrols since the crisis started and this initiative comes from the youth in our suburb,” says Acacio, World Bank accounts officer. “We decided to do the patrols because we do not want our neighborhood to get into trouble.“ Unlike many other suburbs of Dili, people in Taibessi have been living here for a long time and everyone knows everyone. "We look after each other like families. As young people, we think it is important for us to maintain these relationships and keep our area safe from any conflicts,” says Acacio.

The violence that swept Timor-Leste in 1999 was mostly between unarmed civilians wanting independence and militias, but the young nation’s recent troubles are more complex. It started with the dismissal of 600 members of the army who complained about discrimination by their commanders. Most of these ex-army are from the western part of Timor-Leste. The two broad factions, the east --or Lorosae, which means “where the sun rises” in local Tetum language-- and the west --or Loromonu, which means “where the sun sets”,-- have emerged in Timor-Leste’s recent turmoil. The east-west rivalry has led to riots, arson, looting and gunfire around Dili. 

"Timor-Leste can emerge again on a peaceful path"

Luis Sequeira, who works for the World Bank as Communications Associate, says there has never been a war fought between the regions in the history of the country. “We all fought for independence for 24 years, but now it feels like are everything is being destroyed,” he says. “We all have to realize that the whole east and west division is only a geographic expression. As a young Timorese person I still believe that despite the current crisis, Timor-Leste is a success story and can emerge again on a peaceful path.”

Despite the international troops now controlling security in Timor-Leste and soldiers confiscating hundreds of weapons, there remains a risk of more gang-led violence.   Looting and burning are still happening in few areas, and “we do not want this to happen to our suburb,” says Luis. “We feel that this problem is not one that the military can solve. It is a problem that our own people, the Timorese, especially the youth have to solve,” says Luis. 

“By patrolling each of our suburbs and with the support of the population, we can help the security get back to normal again. We have very good communication with the Australian army who is patrolling the Taibessi suburb and other suburbs around Dili. They really appreciate what we are doing.” 

But patrolling every night is not easy. “We have to sacrifice some of our family time,” says Luis. “And it makes it hard when we still have to work the next day". 

“But we have to do it because we want our place to be safe from violence and people in Taibessi are really supporting our activities,” says Acacio, who has two young daughters.

Both Acacio and Luis believe it is important now to look at the causes of the gang violence. High unemployment is one of the key factors behind young men burning and looting shops though many of them declared allegiance to “east or “west” as a rallying cry. 

“Through our patrolling activities, we as youth would like to show that we can also contribute to peace in our country,” says Acacio.

For more information about the World Bank in Timor-Leste, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/tl