AnalysisAsiaAustralasiaDemocracyDiplomacyFeaturesGlobal IssuesHistoricalPoliticsSocietyU.N.World
20 years of freedom for Timor, but Papua is still bleeding
This month marked two important anniversaries for our region, but one is likely to go largely unmentioned in Australia.
The UN sponsored ballot held in August 1999 confirmed that the vast majority of the Timorese people wanted to embrace the future as an independent nation.
- Tom Clarke
- HRLC
It was an amazing moment in history – 24 years of brutal occupation by the Indonesian military that resulted in the death of over 200,000 people, was coming to an end.
During the decades leading up to the ballot, Australian Governments had either turned a…