Dili - Two years after the police and military collapsed and months of anarchy drove more than 100,000 people into displacement camps, East Timor has yet to fix the underlying causes of the instability, and, given the poor government turnout at a stability retreat Friday, it would seem there is still little political will to address the issues.
Only a handful of government officials bothered attending the government-sponsored retreat that was designed to look for long-term solutions to the problems threatening the stability of Asia's newest nation.
Dili - Young people from around the world gathered this week in East Timor to participate in a conference to share ideas on identity, conflict and peace as the country, one of the most at-risk nations in Asia, tries to come to terms with long-standing violence in its society.
Talks at the Youth, Identity and Nation-Building conference began Thursday with its launch by the president of the parliament, followed by a traditional war dance.
Dili, East Timor - As the official photographer for the thousands of civilians walking to a cemetery for a burial, Simplisio de Deus watched through a camera lens as the Indonesian military slaughtered hundreds at the Santa Cruz Cemetery November 12, 1991. It was the last time he would see some of his friends.
Dili - Last Saturday, 16 Tamil men waited eagerly on the south coast of East Timor for a boat to take them to Australia.
They were near the end of their journey and they'd spent the last of their money, but it didn't matter. They knew a better life was only 650 kilometers across the sea.
However, the boat never arrived and instead they were arrested and thrown in jail for three days. Now, they are broke, jobless, without legal representation and some are about to be homeless.
Dili - Last week on eBay a search for East Timor would have come up with a black, wooden, hand-carved statue of a male, not quite a metre high. At 150 US dollars it was by far the most expensive object from East Timor, and one might have wondered why.
Perhaps it was only a replica of a centuries-old sacred clan totem believed to represent ancestors. Or, maybe it was the real thing.
Dili - It's no secret that charity clothes cast off from rich countries end up on the backs of some of the poorest people on earth. Supposedly, that's the whole point. But sometimes the best intentions go awry.
The used clothing is often sold for low prices, undercutting local clothing industries. In Asia, used clothes are keeping dozens of vendors impoverished in one of the region's poorest countries while making a single company rich.
Dili - Two years after the police and military collapsed and months of anarchy drove more than 100,000 people into displacement camps, East Timor has yet to fix the underlying causes of the instability, and, given the poor government turnout at a stability retreat Friday, it would seem there is still little political will to address the issues.
Dili - Young people from around the world gathered this week in East Timor to participate in a conference to share ideas on identity, conflict and peace as the country, one of the most at-risk nations in Asia, tries to come to terms with long-standing violence in its society.
Dili - It's no secret that charity clothes cast off from rich countries end up on the backs of some of the poorest people on earth. Supposedly, that's the whole point. But sometimes the best intentions go awry.
