TOUR OF DUTY (East Timor, 1999-2000)
In a referendum in 1999 the people of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia, which had annexed their country in 1975. To suppress the civil war which broke out after the referendum, INTERFET (International Force for East Timor) arrived in September, 1999. This UN mission was led by Australia, which for decades had supported the occupation of East Timor. Matthew Sleeth photographed the activities of the peacekeeping force and concluded that rather than cleaning up the mess which Australia had helped to create, they were chiefly busy with conducting PR.
