East Timor bids adieu to the UN
2012-12-31 13:41
Dili - The UN ends its peacekeeping mission in East Timor
on Monday after 13 years of boots on the ground in Asia's youngest nation
following a bloody transition to independence.
UN forces first entered the territory around the vote for
independence from Indonesia in 1999 that gave way to political unrest and
bloodshed, and around 1 500 peacekeepers were based there since.
The final batch of troops and logistics staff left in the
morning as the mission prepared to take down its flag, departing from a country
struggling with widespread malnutrition and maternal mortality rates that are
among the worst in the world.
East Timor's leaders said they were excited about their
nation's new direction despite the many problems that lie ahead for the fragile
democracy.
"In the end we have to say goodbye to the UN with...
high appreciation for what they have been doing in Timor-Leste," Deputy
Prime Minister Fernando La Sama de Araujo told AFP, referring to the nation by
its official name.
He said East Timor would now focus on serious development
challenges, starting with improving schools, hospitals and human resources in
the public sector.
"But we're optimistic that in 10 years, coming
together with many friends around the world including UN agencies for
development, we can overcome these challenges," he said, as a jovial Prime
Minister Xanana Gusmao played with hundreds of children.
The country ranked 147 out of 187 nations and territories
listed in the 2011 UN human development index.
Government critics have highlighted the economy's heavy
reliance on significant but depleting offshore oil and gas reserves that they
say benefit urban Timorese more than the regional poor.
There are also concerns that rampant poverty, high
unemployment rates among the youth and a fast-growing population could lead to
future unrest.
Observers say there is little indication that there will
be renewed violence in the short term, but public institutions, including the
police force and judiciary, remain weak.
The current UN mission was established in 2006, when a
mass desertion among the armed forces prompted fighting between military
factions and police, and street violence left at least 37 people dead and tens
of thousands displaced.
Looking forward
The final day of the mission has been mostly
administrative, with peacekeeping operations ending in earnest in October, when
the national police resumed responsibility for security.
Despite the challenges it faces standing on its own feet,
East Timor will celebrate the new year with several notches on its belt from
2012: it marked a decade of formal independence and held three rounds of
largely-peaceful elections, voting in a new president and parliament.
"Although there remains much work ahead, this is an
historic moment in recognising the progress already made," UN mission
chief Finn Reske-Nielsen said in a statement.
"The Timorese people and its leaders have shown
courage and unswerving resolve to overcome great challenges."
UN under-secretary general and former head of the East
Timor mission Ameerah Haq said "everything happened as it should",
claiming a rare peacekeeping success for the global body.
The UN-administered referendum in 1999 ended Indonesia's
brutal 24-year occupation, in which around 183 000 people - then a quarter of
the population - died from fighting, starvation or disease.
The global body oversaw East Timor until 2002, when an
independent government took over.
The only major violence since 2006 was a failed
assassination attempt on then-president Jose Ramos-Horta in 2008.
