The saddening news came from Atambua, a refugee center in East Nusa Tenggara, two weeks ago. Refugees from East Timor ran amok and killed three UNHCR relief workers. They even burnt their corpses. The whole world was in uproar.

Whatever the motive was, the Atambua incident was like a dream that reminded us all of that old and unfinished business: refugees. In Indonesia refugees are often described in a proverb saying sudah jatuh tertimpa tangga,

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