East Timor Immigration To Australia

The first arrival of 500 immigrants from East Timor inwards in Australia as refugees for the period of World War II. Almost 37 of those settled permanently in Australia. Over the subsequent 30 years the figure of East Timorese immigrants grew gradually.

In 1975, after Indonesia occupied East Timor following the extraction of Portuguese colonial control, thousands of East Timorese escaped. Of the lots of who were withdrawn to Darwin, 1,648 turn out to be permanent residents in Australia.

Over the next ten years the East Timor-born community in Victoria enlarged from 367 in 1976 to 2,784 in 1986. Most were immigrants, many of whom had been existing in Portugal earlier than being sponsored by family members in Victoria, under the Special compassionate Program.

Between 1991 and 1997, an additional 1,004 East Timorese immigrants came in Australia under the Special help Category. These immigrants, some of whom arrived from Portugal, were also sponsored by relations in Australia. Another 1,360 who arrived on traveler visas then applied for permanent residency, aggravated by family reunion and the wish to escape from the occupying forces. A lot of settled in Victoria, but were not counted in censuses during the 1990s.

In 2001 Victoria evidence the highest population of East Timor-born immigrants in Australia, with 5,002 in total. The society comprises two separate groups: Timorese, who comprise both matzo and indigenous Timorese, and racial Chinese. Each group has a separate ancestry, language and culture, but together are active members of East Timorese community life.

The greater part of East Timor-born migrants can be found in the metropolis of Yarra, Casey and Greater Dandenong and in the outer edge of Broadmeadows and Footscray.