José Menezes Nunes Serrão with his children: José survived an attack by pro-Indonesian militia in Liquiçá in 1999 in which up to 200 people died (photo © Marcus Perkins/Progressio)
Timor-Leste (East Timor) suffered high levels of political violence during 24 years of illegal Indonesia occupation from 1975 onwards. This continued after the vote for self-determination in the 1999 referendum.
Kids sharing a joke at a street-side repair workshop in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste (photo © Marcus Perkins/Progressio)
Progressio has a long history of supporting the people of Timor-Leste, beginning in the 1980s with lobbying and advocacy work calling for the independence of Timor-Leste and speaking out against atrocities committed by the occupying Indonesian forces.
Photo of Floriana Nunes Saldanha © Marcus Perkins/Progressio
Floriana Nunes Saldanha lives in Timor-Leste’s capital, Dili. Her husband Luciano Sequeira was murdered in the violence that broke out after the vote for independence in 1999.
“Since Luciano was killed I have had to work very hard to support my children, to send them to school,” she says.
