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| Photo: news.com.au |
Updated 11 October 2013, 13:06 AEST
There's concern in East Timor that a recent ban on martial arts clubs could be pushing young people into the grip of organised crime.
Martial arts club ban prompts growing concern in East Timor (Credit: ABC)
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao outlawed the popular clubs in July after a spate of attacks prompted widespread unease about gang violence.
The ban has divided people in East Timor but all agree it's not band aid solution to the country's problem with violent crime.
Presenter:Sam Bolitho
Speakers: James Scambary, Australian researcher; Nelson Belo, Fundasaun Mahein
BOLITHO: Martial arts clubs have a long history in East Timor. Introduced during the Indonesian occupation, they have become an entrenched part of Timorese society.
But, as Australian researcher James Scambary explains, it's the clubs' association with organised crime that has many concerned.
SCAMBARY: "They use martial arts groups in the way that say we might use bikie groups in Australia, like a franchise. They provide security for the brothels, for the gambling operations and some of the worst battles have been over control of these sometimes quite lucrative rackets.
BOLITHO:Mr Scambary is currently studying communal violence as part of his PhD at the Australian National University, and he's been keeping a close eye on the situation in East Timor.
SCAMBARY: There was a series of really high profile conflicts. One was in the Cova Lima District, another one in Ainaro and each resulted in loss of life and up to I think 100 houses, 60 to 100 houses burnt down in each incident. It seemed to be quiet for a while and then itramped up again. Most recently there was spate of murders and fighting in Dili itself.
BOLITHO:It prompted Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in July to ban all martial arts clubs, saying the violence was intolerable and he'd run out of patience.
Mr Scambary supports the ban and says in the past, moves to regulate martial arts clubs have been effective.
SCAMBARY: A lot of the fighting was provoked by groups parading in their uniforms, walking through the village, so you know they either provoked the fight or the sight of them provokes reaction. So once they stopped that it stopped the source of conflict.
BOLITHO:But he warns the ban won't get to the root cause of the fighting: things like urban migration and access to water supplies.
SCAMBARY: You can stop the martial arts groups but you can't stop the communal fighting if you don' t remove the source of it. So a lot of it is family stuff. It's just on the surface it appears to be martial arts groups because people align themselves with a group to protect themselves.
BOLITHO:Fundasaun Mahein is a Timorese NGO that specialises in security and defence issues.
Its director, Nelson Belo, is worried the ban on martial arts clubs might push more people into organised crime.
BELO: I think because of these martial arts bans, and then there is no more organisations and then some of the members of the martial arts, ex- martial arts members been recruited to this action.
BOLITHO:But he says the ban isn't the only factor.
BELO: No no. It's not the only one but it's part of the every single year they increase of our state budget and also there is a question of the budget also not benefiting the ordinary Timorese so then the unemployment numbers also getting increased.
BOLITHO: Fundasaun Mahein recently released a report documenting what it sees as "new types" of organised crime in East Timor.
BELO: They way of their attack is very uniform. They use vehicles, motorbikes, and then target any place where we identified before.
BOLITHO:Mr Belo's group has made four recommendations to combat this "new form" of crime.
They're calling for intelligence agencies to be better resourced, a co-ordinated approach from government ministries, village chiefs to be given the power to monitor citizens and an increased police presence.
James Scambary welcomes the recommendations but questions whether East Timor has the resources to carry them out.
SCAMBARY: It's all good but I just don't think it's really going to happen. But finding ways of empowering communities to take control of crime prevention in their own communities would I think be more effective.
B/A: Radio Australia was unsuccessful in its attempts to contact the East Timor Police Force for comment.
There's concern in East Timor that a recent ban on martial arts clubs could be pushing young people into the grip of organised crime.
Martial arts club ban prompts growing concern in East Timor (Credit: ABC)
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao outlawed the popular clubs in July after a spate of attacks prompted widespread unease about gang violence.
The ban has divided people in East Timor but all agree it's not band aid solution to the country's problem with violent crime.
Presenter:Sam Bolitho
Speakers: James Scambary, Australian researcher; Nelson Belo, Fundasaun Mahein
BOLITHO: Martial arts clubs have a long history in East Timor. Introduced during the Indonesian occupation, they have become an entrenched part of Timorese society.
But, as Australian researcher James Scambary explains, it's the clubs' association with organised crime that has many concerned.
SCAMBARY: "They use martial arts groups in the way that say we might use bikie groups in Australia, like a franchise. They provide security for the brothels, for the gambling operations and some of the worst battles have been over control of these sometimes quite lucrative rackets.
BOLITHO:Mr Scambary is currently studying communal violence as part of his PhD at the Australian National University, and he's been keeping a close eye on the situation in East Timor.
SCAMBARY: There was a series of really high profile conflicts. One was in the Cova Lima District, another one in Ainaro and each resulted in loss of life and up to I think 100 houses, 60 to 100 houses burnt down in each incident. It seemed to be quiet for a while and then itramped up again. Most recently there was spate of murders and fighting in Dili itself.
BOLITHO:It prompted Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in July to ban all martial arts clubs, saying the violence was intolerable and he'd run out of patience.
Mr Scambary supports the ban and says in the past, moves to regulate martial arts clubs have been effective.
SCAMBARY: A lot of the fighting was provoked by groups parading in their uniforms, walking through the village, so you know they either provoked the fight or the sight of them provokes reaction. So once they stopped that it stopped the source of conflict.
BOLITHO:But he warns the ban won't get to the root cause of the fighting: things like urban migration and access to water supplies.
SCAMBARY: You can stop the martial arts groups but you can't stop the communal fighting if you don' t remove the source of it. So a lot of it is family stuff. It's just on the surface it appears to be martial arts groups because people align themselves with a group to protect themselves.
BOLITHO:Fundasaun Mahein is a Timorese NGO that specialises in security and defence issues.
Its director, Nelson Belo, is worried the ban on martial arts clubs might push more people into organised crime.
BELO: I think because of these martial arts bans, and then there is no more organisations and then some of the members of the martial arts, ex- martial arts members been recruited to this action.
BOLITHO:But he says the ban isn't the only factor.
BELO: No no. It's not the only one but it's part of the every single year they increase of our state budget and also there is a question of the budget also not benefiting the ordinary Timorese so then the unemployment numbers also getting increased.
BOLITHO: Fundasaun Mahein recently released a report documenting what it sees as "new types" of organised crime in East Timor.
BELO: They way of their attack is very uniform. They use vehicles, motorbikes, and then target any place where we identified before.
BOLITHO:Mr Belo's group has made four recommendations to combat this "new form" of crime.
They're calling for intelligence agencies to be better resourced, a co-ordinated approach from government ministries, village chiefs to be given the power to monitor citizens and an increased police presence.
James Scambary welcomes the recommendations but questions whether East Timor has the resources to carry them out.
SCAMBARY: It's all good but I just don't think it's really going to happen. But finding ways of empowering communities to take control of crime prevention in their own communities would I think be more effective.
B/A: Radio Australia was unsuccessful in its attempts to contact the East Timor Police Force for comment.
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