His name is Arlindo Presta, a scrawny man with dirty dark skin and hollow eyes. "We have been staying in this tent for one year," said the 37-year-old. "And God knows until when we are to stay here." There was a hopeless and uncertain tone in his voice.

Just over a year ago—on August 30, 1999 to be precise—after the pro-independence group won the referendum, Arlindo and his family left Dili, East Timor. He set fire to his own house befo