Our Story

Background

The period when children were taken from Timor-Leste to Indonesia can be traced back to the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, which lasted from 1975-1999

1976-79

In the late 1970s, low-to-mid-level military personnel took children, recruited them as members of the Operational Assistance Force (TBO), and loaded them onto naval ships that transported soldiers back to Indonesia.

1980-89

In the late 1980s, the Government and military authorities attempted to regulate the practice of transferring children and to monitor military personnel who took them. In exchange, institutions such as hospitals, charities and religious organisations facilitated the transfer of children to Indonesia. A foundation established by General Suharto funded many of these programs. "They send East Timorese children to various institutions in Indonesia to live and study, in some cases without the blessing of their families or without providing a way for families to keep in touch with their children."[1]

1990-98

In the 1990s, the practice of transferring children continued. “The program of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Manpower that sends Timorese children to Indonesia to study or work is based on political and security motivations. These motivations include fostering a commitment to integration with Indonesia and removing potential rioters from Timor-Leste."[2]

1999

The violence surrounding the 1999 referendum period for independence in East Timor triggered a wave of refugees to East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. During the chaos, an estimated 4,500-5,000 children were separated from their families. “Some of these cases occurred in the context of evacuating children out of Timor-Leste for the children's safety.”[3]

Formal Truth-Telling Process

Early initiatives were undertaken by civil society groups in the two countries to pursue the truth commission’s recommendations to reunite Stolen Children with their family. However, many are still separated and have been out of contact with their family for decades. These various efforts will continue to be carried out until the rights of Stolen Children are restored. To view the infographic version, please click on the following link: INFOGRAPHIC OF 10th KKP INDONESIA - TIMOR-LESTE

19 October 1999

The MPR ratified the TAP MPR V/1999 concerning the Referendum in East Timor, liberating East Timor to become its own state.

31 January 2000

KPP HAM completed its investigation regarding East Timor and submitted its report to the Attorney General, including a recommendation to continue the investigation and prosecution of top military officers.
The KPP HAM report stated that at least 50 percent of the total population was forced to evacuate, while 78 percent of buildings were burned or destroyed. The death toll was estimated at between 1,200 and 1,500.
The findings also concluded that crimes against humanity involving militia groups and Indonesian soldiers had occurred. The results of the referendum were announced on the morning of September 4, 1999. A total of 344,580 people or 78.5 percent of voters firmly rejected the proposal of special autonomy within the Republic of Indonesia, and only 94,388 people or 21.5 percent voted for special autonomy.

2000

The international pressure to bring those responsible from the Indonesian military to justice gave birth to Law no. 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts.

2001

The Timor-Leste Government, through UNTAET regulation 2001/10, establised the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR, or, by obtaining a mandate from the parliament as stipulated in the RDTL constitution article 162. KRR Timor-Leste (Comissao de Acolhimento, Verdado e Reconciliacao de Timor Leste /CAVR), worked for three years to reveal the truth of gross human rights violations in 1974-1999.

2003

In 2003, the CAVR formed a research team to review the impact of the conflict on children and to present children's testimonies in public hearings. It also facilitated a reunion visit for one of the disappeared children, Yuliana (Bileki), who was taken in 1979, to meet her family in Ainaro. The CAVR report recommended that the two Governments pay attention to East Timorese children who were brought to Indonesia and are still separated from their families, and provide opportunities for them to reconnect and meet again, including the freedom to determine their own future.

14 December 2004

The leaders of Timor-Leste and Indonesia agreed to form a Truth and Friendship Commission. This followed the growing pressure to prosecute perpetrators of human rights crimes originating from the Indonesian military.

31 October 2005

CAVR completed its final report titled "Chega!" which means "stop" or "enough is enough”. The 2,500-page report was submitted to the President of Timor-Leste and the UN Secretary General on 20 January 2006.
Chega! stated that Timor-Leste suffered from gross human rights violations, including the right to self-determination, killings, enforced disappearances, violations of children's rights, violations of economic, social and cultural rights, torture, and violations of the rules of war. The death toll during the Indonesian occupation ranged from 102,800 to 183,000, the majority of whom were victims of Indonesian military violence.

15 July 2008

The Indonesian and Timor-Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (KPP) submitted its final report titled “Per memoriam Ad Spem” (Through Memories to Hope), which was submitted by the CTF to the presidents of Timor Leste and Indonesia. The CTF report corroborates CAVR's findings on gross human rights violations committed by Indonesia, including the facts regarding the transfer of children from Timor-Leste to Indonesia from 1975-1999. The CTF also mentioned the responsibility of military and civilian institutions in Indonesia for crimes against humanity that occurred in East Timor in 1999.

28-29 August 2008

The Senior Official Meeting (SOM) between Indonesia and Timor-Leste was held for the first time to realise the KKP's recommendations.

2009

The Timor-Leste Government submitted a proposal to the Indonesian Government to form a bilateral sub-working group to handle the issue of missing persons.

September 2009

The DPR issued a decision regarding the search for the missing victims, payment of compensation, and ratification of the UN convention on enforced disappearances. This included the case of enforced disappearances from 1997-1998, which established an ad hoc human rights court.

2010

Timor-Leste's Parliamentary Committee A held public consultations on proposals submitted by civil society members and survivors for reparations, as well as the creation of institutions to implement CAVR and CTF’s recommendations. The consultations experienced delays in 2011 and 2012.

26 January 2010

Komnas HAM signed an MoU with the Timor-Leste Ombudsman to oversee the implementation of CTF's recommendations, especially regarding the search for missing persons.

2011

The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) visited Timor-Leste and made recommendations to ratify the Missing Persons Convention.

6 October 2011

The President issued Decree No. 72 of 2011 concerning the Action Plan for the implementation of KKP recommendations and the Implementation of Monitoring of Action Plan Working Groups. In Chapter V’s Appendix, it was stated that the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs was to establish a Family Reunification Commission. This commission would have the mandate to bring together children who are separated from their families in Timor-Leste.

April 2013

In 2013, Komnas HAM and its partner, the Provedor for Human Rights of Timor-Leste (PDHJ), signed an MoU to follow up on the CTF's recommendations.

2015

The 2015 reunion was the first major one of its kind and increased momentum for cooperation between the civil society groups Komnas HAM Indonesia and PDHJ Timor-Leste. It was covered by many national and local media outlets.
Prime Minister Rui de Araujo asked to meet the 15 children who attended the reunion.
The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) also returned to Timor-Leste and expressed disappointment that several recommendations made in 2011 had not been followed up by the Government and Parliament of Timor-Leste, including the ratification of the Convention on the Missing, and the establishment of the Institute. Memory (Memory Institute), which had been mandated in the CTF report.
AJAR issued the KKP's 7 years of research and 10 years of the CAVR, entitled “Inconvenient Truths”.

2016

The 7th annual Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) RI - Timor-Leste on the Follow-up to the Implementation of the Truth and Friendship Commission (KKP) Recommendations was held in Bali.

31 October 2016

Responding to advocacy from civil society members, Prime Minister Rui de Araújo formed a working group to review the implementation of these recommendations. The working group developed a design for CNC that was passed through Decree Law No. 48/2016 and adopted by the Council of Ministers on 31 October 2016.

17 Juli 2017

The Timor-Leste Government established Chega! National Center - From Memory to Hope (CNC). CNC aims to facilitate the implementation of the CAVR and KKP recommendations, especially in cases of reuniting Stolen Children in Indonesia with their families in Timor-Leste.

15 Juli 2018

Ten years have passed since the CTF report was submitted to the President of Indonesia and the President of Timor-Leste.

Civil Society Efforts

The 1999 referendum concluded that East Timor rejected autonomy. This decision established East Timor as its own independent state called Timor-Leste. The international and national communities have made various attempts to respond to various forms of human rights violations that occurred during the Indonesian occupation. These efforts are expected to reveal the truth about what actually happened, restore dignity to victims and the nation, pursue accountability among those responsible, and carry out government reforms to develop Timor-Leste in a better direction.

2012

The writer Helene van Klinken published her dissertation entitled “Making Them Indonesians: Child Transfers Out of East Timor”.

April 2013

Civil society groups in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, in collaboration with each country’s national human rights institutions, established an initiative to find people separated from their families in Timor-Leste who were children between 1975-1999. 2 people were assisted to go to Timor-Leste to meet their biological families.

2015

Civil society groups in Indonesia and Timor-Leste strengthened initiatives to reunite disappeared children with their families in Timor-Leste. 15 missing children were invited to meet their families in Dili. The 2015 reunion was the first major one of its kind and increased momentum for cooperation between civil society groups Komnas HAM Indonesia and PDHJ Timor-Leste. It was covered by many national and local media outlets.

2016

Reunions were held in May and November. The missing children met with the President and Prime Minister of Timor-Leste.

April 2017

Civil society groups in Indonesia and Timor-Leste agreed to meet to reflect and strengthen cooperation by forming the Working Group for Labarik Lakon.

November 2017

The 5th reunion sent 15 Stolen Children, and involved civil society groups in each country, Komnas HAM, PDHJ, CNC, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Solidarity in Timor-Leste.

30 November – 10 December 2018

The 6th reunion sent 9 Stolen Children.

11-18 November 2019

The 7th reunion sent 14 Stolen Children.