Influences and Echoes of Indonesia in Timor-Leste

Since 1999, when a United Nations (UN) transitional administration was established in the wake of the East Timorese vote for independence from Indonesia, the case of Timor-Leste has been a relative mainstay in research and policy debates on post-conflict reconstruction (Call and Wyeth 2008; Hood 2007; Svoboda and Davey 2013). TimorLeste is often characterised by scholars as a ‘postconflict’ country and, as a consequence, compared to other countries that have recently emerged from political strife. While this focus is understandable, it has also meant that surprisingly little scholarly attention has focused on the connections, points of similarity and interrelations between TimorLeste and its near neighbour and former occupier Indonesia. Only recently have researchers begun to explore the multiple dimensions of Timor-Leste/ Indonesian relations and unpack the relationship across a range of disciplines. This new and promising research agenda is very much in its early stages. This discussion paper contributes to this turn to Indonesia in the Timor-Leste studies literature by presenting four brief case studies that highlight, in different ways, how the two countries and peoples remain intricately entwined at the social, political, cultural and personal levels.1 The cases explore the relationship across different scales ranging from the institutional to the level of individuals and families; they are written by four scholars who approach the issue from different disciplinary backgrounds. Case study one2 shows how Indonesia is the prime reference point for East Timorese police officers and how these bonds become strengthened further by commercial ties. Case study two3 explores the lives of East Timorese women who, during the occupation, were coerced into sexual relationships with members of the Indonesian military, and who continue to encounter stigma and difficulties in their newly independent homeland. Case studies three and four turn to an examination of the lives of tens of thousands of East Timorese who fled across the border to Indonesia following the 1999 referendum. Case study three4 provides a historical and cultural perspective on how Tetun-speaking East Timorese from the Suai area conceptualise the border region. Case study four5 focuses on the experiences of former East Timorese refugees in Indonesia who have recently crossed the border to return home and examines how, in the postoccupation period, rural lives are being rebuilt with minimal state assistance. Before turning to these case studies, we first examine how a reductionist ‘conflict paradigm’ has come to dominate scholarship on Timor-Leste, which has meant that relatively limited attention has been paid to the influences and echoes of Indonesia.