Security Council President On Timor Situation

PRESS STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL
New York, 9 September 1999
THE SITUATION IN EAST TIMOR

Council members had briefings on 9 September from the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and the Council President on the situation in East Timor and the progress of the Security Council mission in Jakarta; they expressed their gravest concern at the continuing and very serious security situation in East Timor.

Council members recalled the 8 September statement to the press. They highlighted the need for UNAMET to maintain a presence in East Timor and again called on the Indonesian authorities to take urgent and effective steps to guarantee the Mission's safety and security. They paid warm tribute to the courage and dedication of UNAMET staff who remain in East Timor;

Council Members also emphasized that UNAMET should resume its work in all regions of East Timor as soon as conditions of security have been established. They requested the Secretary-General to ensure that UNAMET is in a position to redeploy quickly at that time;

Council members were appalled by the growing humanitarian crisis in East Timor. They emphasized the need for urgent humanitarian assistance to be provided to the East Timorese people. Recognizing that this could only be done in safe conditions, they called on the Indonesian authorities to assist the deployment of international humanitarian staff and to provide security for their work. They welcomed both the agreement of the Government of Indonesia that the ICRC could restart its work in East Timor and the dispatch of a United Nations inter-agency emergency response team to Indonesia and West Timor. They urged the Indonesian Government facilitate the access of the team to East Timor.

Council members once again underlined their determination to ensure that the 5 May Agreements are implemented in full and that violence in East Timor is brought to an end. They noted the efforts of the Government of Indonesia and they will continue to monitor the situation closely. If the security situation does not improve within a very short period of time, they will consider further action to help the Government of Indonesia to achieve this objective, taking into account the views of the Security Council mission in Jakarta.

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