From Incorporation to Disengagement: East Timor and Making Indonesia, 1975–1999

For 24 years, Indonesia retained a firm and unyielding grip on East Timor as its twenty-seventh province. This intransigent policy, which had been primarily focused on protecting Indonesia from the threat of “communists” and “security disturbing mobs,” gave way rather suddenly and unexpectedly first in June 1998 when an offer of autonomy was made to East Timor, and, later, in January 1999 when a more radical step was taken to give the people of East Timor the opportunity to decide their own future in an indirect referendum. Self-determination for East Timor, however, came at a great price—the Indonesian military and Indonesian-backed militias left violence and destruction in the wake of Indonesia’s withdrawal from the territory. In this chapter, I focus on the following three questions: Why did Indonesia, a country proud of, and constituted by, its anti-colonial history, annex East Timor and retain it for 24 years even in the face of widespread international condemnation? How and why did the policy change in 1998 and 1999 come about? And why was the withdrawal marked by so much violence, especially after a decision to allow the indirect referendum had been made?