The Loss of East Timor from Indonesia

At July 17th 1976, the president of Indonesia ratified East Timor as an Indonesian province. The government started to develope this province. But, the controversy of people in East Timor had not done yet.  The anti Integration group who led by Fretilin was kept doing physical and diplomatical attack. In the reign of President Habibie, at May 1999, Indonesia accepted the UN proposal to do opinion poll about East Timor. The result was 78,5% people of East Timor refused to merge with Indonesia and 21,5% accepted broad autonomy from Indonesia. The position of East Timor as Indonesian Province is repealed and East Timor obtained independence at May 20th 2002 as Timor Leste.

In my opinion, there are many factors that cause the loss of East Timor. First, not-fullfillment of the people’s rights like prosperity, justness, education, and health of people. Second, the lack of political consciousness. The ideas of disintegration was easy to accept by people. This insident became a big lesson for Indonesia, especially the government. The Indonesian government must give attention to all area of Indonesia. The equalization must always be applied for people’s prosperity.

There is no financial impact of the loss of East Timor. But, the teritorial impact is big. It occurs slackening of indonesian wealth. Moreover, the diplomatical impact is also big. The loss of East Timor make Indonesia is seen as human rights offender country.