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East Timorese Australians are Australian citizens of East Timorese descent or an
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{{Ethnic groups in Australia
East Timorese diaspora, Australia
Australian people of East Timorese descent, *
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...
-born person who resides in the Commonwealth of Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
.
East Timorese people in Australia are one of the largest groups of the East Timorese diaspora. They mainly speak Tetum, Portuguese and other local languages.
Migration history
Under Portuguese rule
East Timorese immigration to Australia began with the arrival of the first migrants from the thenPortuguese Timor
Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies.
The first Europeans to arrive in the ...
in 1943 during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. This migration wave consisted of approximately 600 people who were evacuated from the island, of whom only 35 settled permanently after the war ended.
Indonesian occupation
During the Indonesian invasion of 1975, a significant number of East Timorese fled to Darwin, situated 656 km (408 mi) from Dili. The Australian government accepted 2,500 East Timorese refugees in 1975, primarily those of Portuguese descent.Fretilin
The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor ( pt, Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente, abbreviated as Fretilin) is a centre-left political party in East Timor. They presently hold 23 of 65 seats in the National Parliam ...
was reported to have been active in Darwin during this time using high frequencyHF radio communication to contact comrades in Dili. Darwin proved an ideal base for Fretilin to operate its informal government in exile
A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...
given the city's significant East Timorese exile community who supported independence.
See also
*Immigration to Australia
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
European colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of a ...
* Asian Australians
Asian Australians refers to Australians of Asian ancestry, whether full or partial, including naturalised Australians who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants. At the 2021 census, the number of ances ...
* Australia–East Timor relations
References
External links
* (East Timorese in Sydney)CC-By-SA
A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyrics ...