Sabino Mendoza and his family are staying in camp at UN
Thursday, 15 June 2006
Sabino Mendoza and his family are staying in camp at UN
Sabino Mendoza usually lives in Tuana Laran, near to UN international offices where he works as a training officer. He is originally from Ainaro district but has been living in Dili since 1984.
He is with 6 members of his family in the camp – his wife, two children, niece and nephew and sister in law. They have been in the camp since the 24th April when the dismissed soldiers carried out a 4 day protest in front of the government buildings.
He continues to go to work at the UN office across the road but his family are ‘very scared, too scared to go home because in the area where they live, many houses have been burned and looted by groups of young people who they don’t know who carry machetes’ and other traditional weapons.
He says that ‘it’s impossible to feel relaxed at home’ as there have been many threats, expecially against people from the Eastern districts. Recently, there have been more fears arising from civilians having guns. Sabino explained that the President visited the camp and tried to encourage camp residents to go home again.
The President explained that the government would take responsibility for the rehabilitation of burned homes but the President didn’t offer sufficient reassurance to convince camp residents to go home.
Sabino explained that at night, some of the men leave the camp to go back and provide community security in their local areas, leaving women and children in the camp. He continued ‘there are still many youths who are still carrying knives and machetes around the streets’.
