“We were not lost. We were in Indonesia. But the governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste did not look for us. They did not take care of us.”
— F, reunion participant, survivor
Dili, Timor-Leste, 23 November 2024 – This week marks an emotional homecoming as five survivors, forcibly separated from their families during the conflict in Timor-Leste over 40 years ago, return to their homeland. Now residing in North and South Sulawesi and West Java, Indonesia, these individuals have been located and verified through a tracing process led by civil society organisations in both countries. They will reunite with their families in Same, Baucau, and Bobonaro, with the youngest survivor born in 1981 and the eldest, taken as a teenager in 1976. With support from Centro Nacional Chega!, Timor-Leste’s follow-on truth-body, and Indonesia’s Human Rights Commission, this historic journey bridges decades of loss and resilience, shining a light on the enduring impact of conflict.
Their arrival in Dili, Timor-Leste was only the halfway point in their journey home. Like in previous ninth reunions, the “stolen children” still had to travel hundreds of kilometers to reach their homes. L, who came all the way from South Sulawesi, endured a five-hour journey by road through coastal plains to reach Berkoli, Baucau. He retraced the memory of his forced journey back in 1977, when the army made his family climb Mount Matebian, walking through the border of Viqueque district, and back to the harbor of Laga. A memory that came rushing to him, who happened to be shared with T, one of the few female survivors in the reunion, who was taken from Quelicai, near the same mountain, 21 years later in 1998. Her journey was even harder, through mountainous regions with rough terrain.
Both broke down in tears upon meeting their families. Many people in Berkoli and Quelicai couldn’t believe that the children they considered missing had actually found their way back home. “Ha’u hanoin katak ó mate ona – I thought you were gone forever,” one family member said, capturing the relief as well as disbelief that resonated throughout the reunions.
The Comissāo Acolhimento Verdade e Reconciliacāo (CAVR) in 2002-2005 have acknowledged that thousands of children were taken from Timor-Leste by the Indonesian government, military, or related personnel or institutions between 1975 and 1999. The CAVR noted “clear evidence of high-level involvement in some of its manifestations, extending to President Soeharto and his family” and concluded that the abductions of these children were unlawful under Indonesian law and a breach of international humanitarian law. In 2011, the Indonesian government issued a Presidential Decree (72/2011) in response to the bilateral Commission for Truth and Friendship’s recommendations (2005-2008), aiming to establish mechanisms for locating and reuniting the disappeared and separated children. However, there has been limited progress in achieving this goal.
Civil society organisations in Indonesia and Timor-Leste have been tracking labarik lakon or “stolen children” and their families since 2013. Until November 2024, the Working Group documented and verified the stories of 201 survivors. 106 survivors (including the five from this year) have been reunited with their families in Timor-Leste. These reunions are just a first step in rebuilding lives shattered by trauma and loss. Each survivor’s personal struggle is interwoven with the larger challenges of reconciliation “based on truth” as recommended in the CAVR’s recommendations on reconciliation between Timor-Leste and Indonesia. (Chega! Report p.2607.).
The intertwined histories of Indonesia and Timor-Leste remain fraught with unresolved tensions. Indonesia’s newly elected president, Prabowo Subianto, a former Kopassus special forces commander during the occupation of Timor-Leste, faces allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as documented in the CAVR report. Calls for accountability echo louder as Timor-Leste’s President Jose Ramos-Horta faces backlash for honouring retired Indonesian General A.M. Hendropriyono last year—despite his alleged involvement in the 1975 invasion and militia violence leading up to the 1999 referendum.
The Labarik Lakon Working Group, comprised of civil society organisations from Indonesia and Timor-Leste, achieved significant progress between 2014 and 2018, leading to six successful reunions and pushing both the Indonesian and Timorese governments to take more responsibility for the process. However, momentum stalled after 2019 due to reduced support from National Human Rights Institutions in both countries. The election of Prabowo in Indonesia likely further complicated matters, given his military background and association with the conflict era.
For many of the “stolen children” and their families, time is running out, as many of the survivors and immediate family members are getting older. The two governments must provide more resources to the tracing of these broken families, facilitating not only a one time reunion, but also providing a way for them to repair their lives, enabling multiple visits by these families living across the two countries.
While fostering strong bilateral relations between Timor-Leste and Indonesia is vital, it is equally crucial to include the voices and experiences of the thousands of children forcibly separated from their families. Their stories hold the power to illuminate the human cost of conflict and guide efforts to repair these deep wounds. By amplifying their demands for justice and recognition, these survivors can shape a shared future rooted in accountability and compassion. Their resilience offers a pathway to not only honour Timor-Leste and Indonesia’s intertwined history but also strengthen reconciliation efforts between the two nations, ensuring that healing and restoration remain at the heart of this relationship.
To learn more about the situation of stolen children in Timor-Leste and other reparations initiatives between Indonesia and Timor-Leste, please visit our website at asia-ajar.org and chegareport.net and follow the hashtag #ReuniteTimorLesteFamilies on social media.
For further information please contact: AJAR Indonesia Program & Communication Officer: Raisa Widiastari | rwidiastari@asia-ajar.org AJAR Timor-Leste Program Officer : Inocencio Xavier | ixavier@asia-ajar.org