(U-WIRE) BLACKSBURG, Va. - The United Nations and the international community is full of empty promises when dealing with East Timor.
The people of East Timor, located in Indonesia, had a referendum last month was sponsored by the U.N., in which 80 percent of the population voted for independence.
However, Thursday, when things began to heat up in East Timor, the U.N. packed up and moved out, leaving the people unprotected from the wrath of Indonesian militias.
The international community has sympathy for the East Timorese, but is not willing
to get involved with the conflict after promising protection.
The economic importance of Indonesia to world leaders is outweighing the worth of the lives of the East Timorese.
The Indonesian government is apparently staying out of the conflict although rumors have floated that they are sponsoring some of these militias killing the people of East Timor.
Given the general anarchy reigning in East
Timor and promises from the U.N., the international community needs to offer its protection
to the East Timorese and begin peace talks.
Indonesia has made it clear foreign troops will not be welcome in their country, and it is becoming increasingly more evident the government is not going to help the plight of the East Timorese.
There are many reasons for the international community to not want to be involved with the conflict.
First, unlike Serbia, Indonesia is a long standing ally of NATO countries.
Second, the fact that the East Timorese victims are not European makes the Western countries less passionate about their plight.
Third, there are economic considerations involved with Indonesia.
We believe humanity should outrank sovereignty in international relations.
People are being chased out of their homes and killed because they are fighting for independence.
Independence should have special meaning for the citizens of the United States.
Throughout history, the U. S. has fought for independence and freedom either for our country or another, but now when humanitarian laws and ethics are broken, the United States and the international community as a whole turn their backs.
Western countries worry an international movement on Indonesia would end the current democratic tendencies beginning to take place and they also do not want to encourage any secessions from the state.
However, the bottom line is that innocent people, entire families, are being displaced from their homes and turned into refugees or corpses.
Given what the U.N. is supposed to stand for and the ethical principles the United States government claims to have, a person would expect these gross crimes against humanity would be stopped as soon as possible.