ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the long-term impacts of internal displacement during the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste, which continues to influence contemporary access to land and livelihood practices. It deals with an historical account of internal displacement during the Indonesian invasion period as experienced by several rural communities. The chapter illustrates how contemporary livelihoods and land and property relations in rural Timor-Leste are entangled with local histories of colonialism, warfare, and forced migration with kinship ties often playing a crucial mediating role. It discusses the long-term social impacts of mass internal displacement during the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste that continues to shape and reshape local land relations and livelihoods. In a country where land continues to underpin multiple dimensions in people’s lives, displacement has brought varying challenges in contemporary times in terms of pursuing livelihoods, securing rights over land and property, and engaging in cultural practices.
