INTERFET Anniversary
“The port [in East Timor] was like a scene from Hades. There were piles of what appeared to be burning rags and belongings, there was human excrement on the ground, families crying, people clearly disturbed and frightened.”
Lieutenant Colonel Tim McOwan, Special Air Service Regiment
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Australian-led deployment of the International Force for East Timor (INTERFET). Australia contributed more than 5,000 personnel to the 22-nation regional force.
Before East Timor’s referendum for independence from Indonesia in August 1999, and after the return of the overwhelming “yes” vote, pro-Indonesian militias unleashed a campaign of violence, murder, arson, looting, and intimidation upon the Timorese people.
With the support of the international community, the first Australians from INTERFET arrived in Dili on 20 September. The peacekeepers quickly secured Dili before moving out to other areas, disarming militia and at times having tense stand-offs with the Indonesian military. INTERFET liaised with Falintil, the military wing of the Timorese independence party, and provided medical assistance to the East Timorese. By October the Oecussi enclave on the north coast of West Timor had been secured. With calm restored, a large United Nations peacekeeping force took over from INTERFET in February 2000.
INTERFET medic, Private Tammy Smithson, shelters a child during a medevac in 'Grotu' located in the mountains of the border area of Southern East Timor.
Photographer WO2 Al Green, V9920028, Image Courtesy the Department of Defence