TEMPO Interactive, Denpasar:The Ministry of Social Affairs held a coordinating meeting to try and solve the problems of East Timorese refugees on Wednesday evening (12/6) in Denpasar, Bali. Several institutions were involved in the meeting, including the local government of East Nusa Tenggara, the Udayana Military Command, the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah said that the Indonesian government is committed to solve the problems of East Timorese refugees completely by August. In addition, it is expected that the problems of refugees in other areas will be solved completely by the end of the year. If the refugee problem is completely solved this year, then Chamsyah believes that the funds could be used for the poverty eradication program. Based on data issued on May 22, there are 134,568 refugees from East Timor staying in Indonesia. On June 6, IOM reported that 21,300 have been repatriated, and 48500 refugees had returned to their home by themselves. The Ministry of Resettlement has provided houses for 1,924 heads of households, a total of 9620 people. The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration has resettled 1,061 heads of households, a total of 5303 people, to other islands. (Rofiqi Hasan-Tempo News Room)