Jakarta - Tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees stranded in Indonesian West Timor were finally allowed to decide yesterday whether they wanted to go home, 21 months after being forced to flee their homeland in the face of brutal aggression.
After months of prevarication and threats by pro-Jakarta militias which have held many refugees hostage in squalid camps the Indonesian government deployed 4,500 police and troops to safeguard a day-long registration of about 80,000 people.