Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Atambua
At least 81 people, including 28 foreigners from East Timor, the Philippines and Australia, left the East Timorese capital of Dili for Atambua in East Nusa Tenggara on Saturday after a violent protest Friday left two people dead.
The fleeing Indonesians said the situation in Dili was not good, especially after the East Timorese government imposed a curfew and prevented residents from going out of their homes.
The Indonesian Embassy in Dili warned Indonesians without urgent business not to travel to the country's former 27th province due to security conditions.
""Indonesians intending to go to East Timor have been asked to postpone their plans,"" Melki Ballo, an Indonesian immigration officer at Motaain, said on Saturday.
Reports from the border area indicated hundreds of Indonesians intended to evacuate but were blocked from doing so by East Timorese civilians and former soldiers who had been dismissed from the Liquisa district.
""They felled trees to block the road linking the two nations. Vehicles intending to go to Dili or other places were not allowed to continue their journey,"" said a source who asked not to be identified.
The security condition in Dili had not returned to normal as of Saturday evening. ""Hundreds of Indonesians intending to cross the border to Atambua have been held in Liquisa. Buses plying the Dili-Kupang route are not in operation,"" Ballo said.
As of Saturday evening, security had been intensified along the border. The Indonesian Military, which declared an on-alert status there, also deployed three battalions of soldiers along the border zones, Ballo said.
Ballo said the flow of travellers across the border had dropped drastically. Normally, he said, up to 70 Indonesians per day crossed to Indonesia.
Alfrida Pasaribu, an Indonesian intending to go to East Timor to fetch her two children in Dili, was forced to return to Atambua due to the absence of transportation.
""I'm worried about the condition of my children. I've asked them to seek protection at the Indonesian Embassy, but they could not go out of their house because they were scared,"" Alfrida said.
Hundreds of soldiers, meanwhile, were deployed across Dili at strategic locations, AFP reported.
The streets of Dili were largely deserted with most public transportation not operating, though a few taxis still sought fares. Shops and markets mostly remained shuttered but the airport was operating under tight security.
East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao toured the city with local media and saw about 50 houses torched in Tacitolu.
""With sadness, I apologize to the people who had to flee their homes because the situation ran out of control yesterday (Friday),"" the president told several thousand refugees sheltering at Don Bosco seminary.
""But now, I ask that all be prepared to return home calmly because I have talked with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and the situation has returned to normal,"" he said.
