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The issue of East Timor refugees arose after the paramilitary forces of Indonesia and the pro-liberation forces of East Timor went on a killing rampage, massacring the voters who tried to cast their votes in the elections of 1999. The situation further went out of control when paramilitary forces carried out blatant rapes, murders and kidnappings in east Timor thus giving rise to terror within the minds of the East Timor people. Hence, more and more population of East Timor turned refugees and migrated to West Timor and Australia. But the issue of East Timor refugees gave rise to a bigger controversy in global politics and caused tension within the administrative structure of the host countries.
The chief reason behind the rising tension in the host countries was due to the fact that the Indonesian military was on a continuous trail of East Timor refugees. This attitude on behalf of the military forces endangered not only the east Timor refugees but also the people of West Timor and Australia. The government of both these countries thus tried more to oust these East Timor refugees from their country and humanitarian values took a back seat. The hostile attitude of these countries forced East Timor refugees to take shelter in the hills and other remote areas which resulted in these people being cut off from basic amenities like good food and drinking water. In the process, many East Timor refugees went missing and cannot still be traced. The incident of human deportation to Indonesia, have also been on the rise and is an outcome of the increase in the number of East Timor refugees in West Timor.
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