Dili, July 10, 2025 (Média Democracia) – The Ministry of National Liberation Combatant Affairs (MAKLN), in collaboration with the Municipal Council of National Liberation Combatants (CCLN), held a meeting to symbolically hand over data regarding claims and objections related to the first veteran registration (2003–2005) and the second registration (2009). The handover ceremony took place on Tuesday this week.
Minister of National Liberation Combatant Affairs, Gil da Costa Monteiro “Oan Soru”, stated that the purpose of the event was to inform the public about the data that will be published in January 2025.
“Today, we have received a total of 61,704 submissions, including 58,584 claims and 3,120 objections from all municipalities, including RAEOA. These reflect protests by 61 individuals against the status of 53,272 recognized veterans. All data has been compiled by our technical team, and we will now return the documentation to each respective municipality. According to Article 35 of the National Combatant Statute and Decree-Law No. 7, Article 6, Point H, we are returning the files to allow municipal CCLNs to conduct follow-up meetings and carry out further work on the claims and objections,” explained Minister Gil da Costa Monteiro “Oan Soru”.
He further clarified that the total number of claims and objections amounted to 61,711, with 53,272 of those being contested individuals (recognized veterans). The figures are broken down per municipality as follow: Aileu: 3,179 submissions (2,822 contested), Ainaro: 5,666 (4,023 contested), Baucau: 9,332 (8,459 contested), Bobonaro: 6,757 (5,939 contested), Covalima: 5,237 (4,806 contested), Dili: 2,825 (2,375 contested), Ermera: 8,566 (7,214 contested), Lautem: 2,677 (2,460 contested), Liquiça: 1,835 (1,556 contested), Manatuto: 3,635 (3,391 contested), Manufahi: 3,419 (3,202 contested), Viqueque: 5,449 (4,268 contested), and Oecusse: 3,112 (2,736 contested)
These data reflect that many individuals submitted claims against the recognition of certain veterans, although there are also individuals who did not accept the published veteran lists and submitted protests directly to the MAKLN.
“There are also entries in our data from individuals who filed claims but did not specify their municipality, we labeled these as ‘no municipality’ (4 individuals). They lodged objections against 3 recognized veterans. Additionally, there were 18 cases from outside Timor-Leste, showing that some Timorese abroad also disagreed with the published veteran lists,” said Minister Gil.
He stated that all the submitted data would be reviewed by the Combatant Council in meetings to determine decisions, which would be announced through press conferences or congresses.
“Some individuals brought documents and claimed they are veterans, even though their names were not included in the official lists. Although they filed complaints, we must clarify that MAKLN operates strictly according to the law, and these submissions will go through due process,” Gil added.
He emphasized that even if a name was excluded from the published list and was again rejected in the public announcement, it would follow the normal legal procedure. The physical documents handed over to the municipal CCLNs would then be used for meetings and possible decisions to be announced in the future.
“The list will be re-published, but municipal CCLNs must conduct meetings because not all data relate to claims, some involve individuals who didn’t submit objections but filed new applications for veteran status. For example, starting from age 24, a total of 21,696 applications were received under the categories of sub-assistance and PPU. These applicants were not contested by anyone regarding their claims,” explained Gil.
He reaffirmed that the finalized lists would be sent to each municipality to enable the payment process scheduled for December. However, this does not guarantee that all individuals on the list will receive payments, as there may still be ongoing objections against some recognized veterans, which could result in delayed or canceled payments.
Report by: Domingas
Photo by: Domingas