International peacekeepers, serving in East Timor Timor as part of the Australian-led ...

Accession Number P03605.231
Collection type Photograph
Object type Negative
Maker Immig, John
Place made East Timor: Dili
Date made 15 January 2000
Conflict East Timor, 1999-2013
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Description

International peacekeepers, serving in East Timor Timor as part of the Australian-led International Force for East Timor (INTERFET), control a riot outside the Dili gymnasium and basketball stadium. The Australian soldiers in the foreground are arresting a local man. Identified in the group are: 5800133 Captain S A (Steve) Jenkins; 1811356 Gunner (Gnr) D H Wood; 2811956 Gnr D Hyland; and 2817523 Gnr B J Horrell. Australian Military Police and Canadian Civilian Police (CIVPOL) members are in the background. A United Nations (UN) worker and an Australian soldier (filming) stand at the right. The UN had made an offer of employment for 700 local people, registration taking place inside the Dili Basketball Gymnasium. Approximately 3000 unemployed people arrived and were forced to wait in hot cramped conditions in a small square outside the stadium. Part way through the proceedings a UN official informed the crowd that only those people with computer skills and good English and Portuguese language skills would be considered for the jobs. Members of the waiting crowd rioted and Jose Ramos-Horta, who had recently returned from exile, was called in to help calm the crowd. As a co-founder and former member of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN), Ramos-Horta had served as the exiled spokesman for the East Timorese resistance during the years of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor (1975 to 1999).

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