Images: Kiwi Soldiers Assist Border Crossings
All photos by LAC Eve Welsh RNZAF
Members of the New Zealand Battalion group based at Suai greeted families returning to East Timor from the West last Wednesday. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees administered the crossings, recording a total of two hundred and fifty seven returnees. The families were assisted in their repatriation by New Zealand Peace Keepers in the facilities of Junction Point Foxtrot, the border position managed by New Zealanders.
Se also… Images: West To East Timor Border Crossings
Everything but the kitchen sink. Private Brenden Dyer from the Bay of Islands, loads a pig back onto one of the UNHCR vehicles carrying refugees back into East Timor.
Goodbye and good luck. Private
Ngati Uriao from Lynfield, Auckland, farewells a family who
have just returned from Betun, West Timor as they head
toward the UNHCR Transit Centre near Suai.
The first of many. Indonesian
trucks cross the tactical coordination line at Junction
Point Foxtrot loaded with refugees and possessions. These
people are enroute back to the Ainaro district after 2
years in the refugee camps in West Timor.
All part of the security
process. Private Kirsty Knox from Paraparaumu, searches a
female refugee for prohibited items as she passes through
the NZBATT search facility at Junction Point Foxtrot
Sgt Perry Karatau of Bulls,
directs refugees who have been screened back to the area
where their possessions have been checked and loaded onto
trucks. Next stop for these people was overnight in a UNHCR
Transit Centre and then back to their home districts after
two years away.