What is Security in Dili Worth?

By Merryn Bryant

October 2003: For Ausaid Youth Ambassador, Meaghan Fleeton, beginning work with UNICEF in Dili, Timor-Leste has made her more aware of her personal fears.

"All the talk is of suicide bombers and terrorism and how my building is a target, simply because it is UN. Once the UN withdraws…the dissatisfaction and political unrest could very well translate into violence."

A real enough threat given that violence occurs even whilst the UN is still there.
Reconstruction in East Timor is happening slowly. Development of economic sustainability is slower still. It is the poverty, hunger and the government’s inability to adequately address these issues that caused the December 4 riots last year.

Student protesters threw stones at government cars and buildings. Others attacked western symbols of affluence such as the ANZ Bank and the ‘Hello Mister’ supermarket.

As December 4 approaches, expats are speculating whether or not it will happen again. Much like September 11 in 2001, everyone is wondering if lightning will strike in the same place. Then there is the greater concern of long-term security in the country.

"I think that the ‘Hello Mister’ burning and riots in December are indicative of the brewing retaliation to oppression and condescension," says Ms Fleeton.

The UN is not taking any chances and has turned UN House into ‘Fort Knox’. Razor wire snakes around bulging sandbags stacked over two metres high. The result is a formidable wall, dwarfing the lone guard at the gate.

Security company, Chubb, provides most of the guards in Dili. These same guards are currently staging a silent protest outside the highly visible World Bank office. The people who are responsible for the safe keeping of embassies, residential compounds and offices are barely being paid enough to survive themselves.

Ms Fleeton spoke of condescension and oppression leading to a violent uprising. Chubb is an American owned, multinational corporation. The wage they offer to their Timorese guards is condescending and offensive – about US$3 a day . Ms Fleeton may get to see her theory tested.

Timorese President Xanana Gusmao once said that so long as there are starving people in the country, there cannot be security. Now it seems the very people employed to uphold security in the country may be the biggest threat to it.

The foreign-owned 'Hello Mister' supermarket burns during the Dili riots in December 2002.