Posted on 05/25/2006 4:43:17 PM PDT by naturalman1975
AUSTRALIA has a vital national interest in the promotion and maintenance of stability in our region.
Yesterday the Government received a formal request from the Government of East Timor for military assistance to help that country in the restoration of security, confidence and peace. The Government has agreed in principle to this request, and, subject to the final agreement of East Timor to the conditions of the mission, Australia is preparing to send an Australian Defence Force battalion group of approximately 1300 personnel to help our near neighbour.
This action follows a significant deterioration in the security situation in East Timor, especially in and around Dili. After initial riots at the end of April, recent days have seen the outbreak of sustained fighting between elements of the East Timorese military and a breakaway rebel group. The violence escalated yesterday with reports of casualties.
The Australian force will provide assistance to East Timor fully respectful of that country's sovereignty and in the spirit of offering a helping hand to a friend in a time of need. New Zealand, Portugal and Malaysia have received similar requests for assistance. Australia's mission in New York has informed the UN.
Our personnel will have a number of tasks. They include facilitating the evacuation of Australian and other foreign nationals as appropriate and necessary; stabilising the situation and facilitating the concentration of conflicting groups into safe and secure locations; auditing and accounting for the weapons that belong to each group; and creating a secure environment for the conduct of a successful dialogue to resolve the crisis.
The Government is very conscious of the danger the current situation presents to Australians in East Timor. Given the security situation, we are obviously advising Australians not to travel to East Timor at this time. The Government has also directed that its non-essential embassy staff and dependants should leave East Timor because of the increased violence.
Australia takes this deterioration in East Timor's security situation very seriously. Having played a decisive role in the birth of the nation of East Timor, we recognise that Australia has a particular obligation to assist what is a small and poor country in its struggle for a stable democratic future. This deployment reflects what I have said on many occasions: that Australia - a large, stable and prosperous country - has a special responsibility to act as a force for peace and order in our region. I want to reaffirm in the strongest terms that this action is in our national interest, because the world we live in is one where the problems of weak and fragile states, especially ones on our doorstep, can very quickly become our problems. At the same time, I want to underscore the importance of states accepting their own responsibility for improving governance and reducing corruption as the path to a better future.
It is always a solemn responsibility of any government to place the men and women who defend its country in danger. This is a dangerous mission and a dangerous situation, and we must not walk away from the possibility that casualties could be suffered by the forces that will go to East Timor. I know I speak on behalf of all members when I say our forces undertake this mission with our admiration, our hopes and our prayers for their safe return.
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