What is 1999 East Timorese crisis?
The '''1999 East Timorese crisis''' was a [[conflict]]. [[Militia]] who did not like the [[independence]] in [[East Timor]] started the conflict when they attacked [[civilian]]s. These attacks led to more [[violence]] all over the country. Most of the violence occurred in the [[capital city|capital]] [[Dili]]. The violence started after the result of an [[East Timor Special Autonomy Referendum|election]] was [[independence]] from [[Indonesia]]. About 1400 people are thought to have died. An [[United Nations|UN]] force ([[InterFET]]) made up mainly of people from the [[Australia]]n Defence Force was sent to East Timor to establish and maintain peace. == Details == === Background: referendum === In 1999, there was a lot of pressure on Indonesia. Therefore, the Indonesian government decided to hold a [[vote]]. In this [[referendum]] it asked the people of East Timor, whether they wanted to stay with Indonesia or become independent. [[Portugal]] had done some lobbying. The referendum was held on August 30. In it, a clear majority (78.5%) of people voting said they would prefer to become independent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/ihavearightto/four_b/casestudy_art21.shtml |title=Article 21: Right to take part in and select government|publisher=BBC Website |access-date=7 December 2013}}</ref> The alternative proposal would have been to stay with Indonesia, but to have many freedoms as an ''autonomous province'', called Special Autonomous Region of East Timor (SARET). === Violence === Directly after the referendum, violence broke out. The violence came from Indonesian soldiers and from a special [[Pro-Indonesia militia|East Timorese pro-integration militia]] which was supported by Indonesia. These [[troop]]s became violent and [[terrorism|terrorised]] the population. They did not like how the people had voted. About 1400 Timorese people were killed. 300.000 had to flee to [[West Timor]] to live as [[refugee]]s. Most of the [[infrastructure]] of the country, including [[house]]