MINISTER O'DONNELL ANNOUNCES £400,000 IN ASSISTANCE TO EAST TIMOR

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Liz O'Donnell, T.D., today announced the allocation of £400,000 in humanitarian assistance to help the people of East Timor. This is the first part of the £1 million package of assistance agreed recently by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, David Andrews, T.D. The funding is being allocated to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the United Nations Children's Fund and to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"I am very conscious of the suffering of the Timorese people, whether they are hiding in the mountains of East Timor, in dreadful conditions in the camps in West Timor or forcibly displaced elsewhere in Indonesia. Funds have been allocated to help supply basic needs like food, water and sanitation. Even more important is the need to ensure that the internally displaced people and the refugees in both parts of Timor and elsewhere in Indonesia receive the protection they are entitled to under international law". Funds have been given to the UN High Commission for Refugees to help it fulfill its mandate in this area.

The Minister added "Ireland will continue to pursue the case of the East Timor people in all possible fora. Ireland will contribute to the International Force and has supported the call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for an international committee of enquiry into the atrocities committed in East Timor. Ireland will stick by the people of East Timor in their effort to build a new community and to make the transition to independence in the weeks, months and years ahead."Top