Stories about Timor-Leste

Beatriz’s War: East Timor's First Feature Film

  22 August 2014

A Guerra da Beatriz (Beatriz’s War) is the first feature film from East Timor. It is about Indonesia's occupation of East Timor from 1975 to 1999 and its impact on the Timorese society. According to the producers of the film, it was “made guerrilla style by the men and women...

East Timorese Protect Land Rights Against Australian Cement Plant Deal

  21 April 2014

The announcement of a new cement plant project by an Australian company in Baucau, northeast of East Timor, has led local community groups to set up a non-governmental organization “to protect and preserve the communities’ rights to their culture, development and traditional land rights.” According to the community organization, Kapeliwa, the government...

Asylum Seekers Face Uncertainty in East Timor

  25 March 2014

Sharna Jade Bremner probes the situation of asylum seekers in East Timor: Asylum seekers have been arriving in Timor since the early 2000s, however the exact number that are still in the tiny half-island nation remains unclear. Fear and anxiety are rife in the asylum seeker community, and many people...

East Timor's Rising Budget for ‘Public Transfers’

  26 January 2014

The La’o Hamutuk NGO is concerned that the East Timor government is alloting more funds for so-called ‘public transfers’ which lacks transparent mechanisms: In recent years, Timor-Leste has spent about 20% of its state budget on “Public Transfers” – payments of money to individuals or institutions which are not controlled...