History of East Timor

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in the area in the 16 th century and they established a presence on the island of Timor, while the surrounding islands came under Dutch control. East Timor was colonised by Portugal for its resources and labour and it seems the needs of the Timorese were not a priority. Many historians and writers characterise this period of colonisation as one of exploitation and neglect.

During the Second World War Timor was occupied by the Japanese and the cost to the East Timorese was devastating. By the end of the war it is estimated that between 40,000 to 60,000 people had died. Portugal reclaimed its colony following surrender by Japan.

Following the overthrow of the dictatorship in Portugal in 1974 a process of withdrawal from Portuguese colonies began. Timor declared independence on November 28 1975 but was invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces nine days later. The territory was subsequently declared the 27 th province of Indonesia in July 1976 as Timor Timur. Years of brutal oppression and violence followed as the East Timorese struggled for independence from Indonesia. It is estimated that up to 200,000 East Timorese died as a result of the Indonesian occupation.

On August 30 1999 a United Nations supervised referendum resulted in the East Timorese voting overwhelmingly for full independence from Indonesia. Following the vote violent clashes instigated by anti-independence militias and aided by the Indonesian military broke out. Massacres of civilians were carried out by militias all over East Timor. The violence also resulted in displacement of 200,000 East Timorese. As Indonesian military departed 80% of the country ’ s infrastructure was destroyed. There was no electricity, water, communications, and four out of five schools were destroyed.

Eventually United Nations troops entered the country to restore order and assist in the transition to independence. On May 2002, East Timor became the world ’ s newest country. This momentous and long-awaited event occurred following East Timor ’ s first presidential elections held in April 2002 with independence hero Xanana Gusm ã o winning by a great majority.