An estimated 1,900 East Timorese children live in orphanages in Indonesia as orphans, only they are not really orphans. More than 200,000 East Timorese were forced to leave their homes and become refugees in Indonesian West Timor by Indonesian military in response to an overwhelming vote for independence.

Most of the children living in various homes in Indonesia were separated from their parents during the 1999 elections held in East Timor. None have seen their parents for the past 4 or more years. Almost every family in East Timor was torn apart in the violence that accompanied the march to independence. After the vote, the Indonesian military and their militia proxies set about destroying East Timor. Hundreds of thousands of people fled or were forced over the border into West Timor. Many parents surrendered their children to people who promised to take care of them in Indonesia. They were told that, when the dust had settled, their children would be returned.
One such person was Hasan Basri. He told the residents of a small town in East Timor, Venelale, that he would protect their children, educate them, and feed them if they sent their children with him. The only requirement being that the children be converted from Catholics to Muslims. He assured the people of the town that they would be reunited with their children once things in East Timor were more peaceful and then the children could be converted back to Catholics. Many parents, like Jose Pareira, gave their children to him as their last resort to protect their children from the Indonesian military's brutalities.
Four years have passed. East Timor is peaceful and its people are getting on with the business of nation-building. Yet Pereira has not been reunited with his sons, Jacinto and Marito. Hasan refuses to let them go. He holds them, as he does about 50 others, in orphanages far from their birthplaces.
Johnny and Zakaraia, two other children brought from East Timor to Indonesia by Hasan Basri have not seen or met their parents since they left East Timor. They have no news whether their family is still alive or not. They study in schools in Western Java, sing the Indonesian National Anthem and know the Indonesian Flag but have no knowledge of what the East Timor Flag looks like. Both are not Catholics anymore.
Timor Hope Foundation, run by Octavio Soares, nephew of East Timor's former pro-integrationist governor Abilio Soares and an exiled East-Timorese who supported the territory's integration into Indonesia has at least 156 East Timorese children in it's custody.
There is a striking similarity in the attitude of Hasan Basri and Dr. Soares towards reuniting the 'orphans' with their families in East Timor. Both feel that they have the legal right to keep the children based on the documents signed by their parents. They refuse to let the children be reunited with their parents.
Human Rights experts mention that this is part of a large brainwashing operation of children from East Timor. Some speculate that Soares and Hasan want to bring up children who will oppose East Timorese independence. A source close to Octavio Soares was quoted saying. "there is a plan for East Timor to come back to Indonesia even if it takes 20 years or more and these children will help this cause."
Children interviewed in both these orphanages gave similar responses to questions. They only wanted to go home after they finish school and if they went earlier than that they wouldn't be smart.
Keeping children away from their parents, their family, their culture and their birthplace is not only illegal but also shameless. It is certain that orphanages such as the ones operated by Hasan Basri and Octavio Soares are not free of ulterior motives. Causing children to live like orphans when they have a home and a family to love them is utterly inhuman and unacceptable.
However, what is of utmost disgust is the apathy of the Government of Indonesia towards such orphanages. East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, has described Indonesia's handling of the children's plight as "shocking and outrageous". If the Indonesian Government were more active in assisting the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in reuniting East Timorese children with their families, this problem would not have continued for so long.