Abstract :
Handling of East Timor refugees by the Indonesian government after the referendum in 1999 is
one example of the handling of refugees who have not performed optimally. Flow of East Timor
refugees to Indonesia began before the end of 1998 for anticipation referendum and violence.
Then intensified after referendum results announced on 4 September 1999 by the head of the
United Nations Mission to East Timor assistence (UNA-MET), Ian Martin, who previously had
been announced by the Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York. The poll results: 21.5% of
voters chose autonomy, and 78.5% refused and wants independence for East Timor. Around
250,000 people fled to West Timor as a result of the chaotic situation. In the 1951 Convention on
the Status of Refugees has set the principle of non refoulement. But sometimes the constraints
faced by the refugees of East Timor is a country that has not ratified the 1951 Convention or
1967 Protocol. Thus the presence of East Timor refugees in transit countries (transit), or the
destination country forcibly repatriated. For that researchers investigate how the application of
non-refoulement principle in the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the East Timorese refugees
in Indonesia after the 1999 referendum. Analytical methods used by researchers is the method of
deductive logical, that is logical which departed from the general proposition that the facts has
known or believed and ended at a conclusion (new knowledge) in particular. In deductive
logical, the researchers conducted a process of deduction of non-refoulement principle as a
general proposition to draw a specific conclusion that is how the application of the principle of
non refoulement regarding the handling of East Timor refugees in Indonesia. The result is
Indonesia that has not ratified the 1951 Convention has adopted the principle of non refoulement.
But Indonesia in this regard has not provided an adequate handling of East Timor refugees.
Researchers give advice to refugees who are still in refugee camps immediately handled properly
and thoroughly and experience in dealing with East Timorese refugees are expected to be an
evaluation for the Indonesian government in particular, in this case the authors suggested that the
government ratify the 1951 Convention and 1967 protocol that has a sense of responsibility for
handling refugees.