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Understanding Timor-Leste 2013
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Understanding Timor-Leste 2013

First-hand accounts of two journeys into Indonesian-occupied Timor-Leste in 1991 and 1997 — rare observations from a period when the territory was largely closed to the outside world following the 1975 invasion.

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Two Journeys in Occupied Timor-Leste (1991 and 1997)

Following the 1975 Indonesian invasion and occupation of Timor-Leste, foreign travellers were barred entry. Little news emerged from the territory until early 1989, when Indonesia re-opened Timor-Leste to foreign visitors — hoping to show the world there was no local opposition to its rule.

What non-Timorese knew of conditions during the remainder of the occupation came mainly from political activists and journalists who had travelled to the country specifically to document events on the ground. This resource compiles observations from two such journeys, in 1991 and 1997, providing a rare window into daily life and the resistance movement during one of Southeast Asia’s least-documented occupations.

Year: 2013