Danger in Dili
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2006
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36
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Trip End
Jul 15, 2008
Dili,
Timor-Leste
Monday, January 15, 2007
At our hotel's breakfast buffet this morning Deb told us she got a call in the night about a street killing. She had told us about the gangs of young men who roam the streets and cause the problems here in Dili. They are connected with the several refugee camps set up by the UN around the city. The gangs engage in street fights, usually not with knives or guns thank goodness, but with stones. She said that Timorese boys are born with a rock in their hand. The joke among the UN troops is that they go to mass in the morning and begin throwing stone when they leave.
This morning we set out to find Jim Richards, a travel agent here in Dili who we'd had e-mail contact with months before we left the states. His office is in the Tjing Fatto Building on Rua Belarmino next to the ANZ bank. It's Sunday and we wouldn't expect to find him at his office, except Deb had called him and he assured her he would be there. We found his office but it was closed so we continued down the street passed another refugee camp. About another 50 meters down on the same side of the street we passed a newly constructed single story building with a large door opening on to the street
01-14b
. Inside we saw several young men milling about. At that moment a motor cycle pulled up to few young men gathered in front of the refugee camp behind us. A youth stepped out of the building we were in front of and looked back down the street toward the refugee camp. He ran inside speaking urgently, with hand gestures, to the others then ran back out and pointed toward the cyclist, then others started coming out of the building. One of youths in the building ran to a metal utility pole and began clanging on it with a stone. In seconds a group appeared in front of the building and another in front of the refugee camp. Shouting between the gangs started then stones were flying. By then we had made it to the entrance of the Central Hotel. We slide inside as the hotel help started pulling down the metal shutters over the windows and across the doors. Arvid took a couple photos before Irina dragged him inside. 
