Survival Strategy of Former East Timorese Refugees After the Termination of Durable Solutions

Integration process of East Timor as the twenty-seventh province slipped into crisis as the Government of Indonesia (GoI) offered two options: independence or autonomy. The following options were realized by conducting a referendum in 1999. The result of referendum that placed majority of East Timorese for declaring independence triggered numerous actions leading to violence and killing. Most of the refugees moved to and concentrated in different camps around Indonesia’s West Timor territory. One of the main camps is the Tuapukan Camp located in Tuapukan village, District of Kupang. It has been 11 years since East Timorese refugees stayed and made home in Tuapukan Camp. Durable solutions that had been offered by GoI and United Nations (UN) were unable to solve problems of refugees. Nevertheless, during their stay in the camp, the refugees acquired various survival strategies.

Based on this background, a research conducted in 2007 with the purpose to reveal patterns of survival strategies applied in their daily life. More specifically, survival strategies acquired after the termination of humanitarian aid as of late 2005, which had been provided by GoI and UN. The research showed some indications on several strategies conducted by the refugees.

The result of the field research indicates that East Timorese refugees have been developing specific survival strategies. It is categorized that types of survival strategies into food subsistence, independence, and dependence in certain situations. Food subsistence comes from cropping in limited land. Independence is attained to make money in informal sector and use natural resources in surrounding areas. Each refugee family adopted their own different type of strategies to others. Many different backgrounds, such as motivation in working, resource, levels of kinship and interaction with local communities, and intervention done by government or humanitarian organizations give characteristics on types of survival strategies applied by former East Timorese Refugees in Tuapukan Camp.