Aging in Timorese Exile: (Im)mobilities of Care and Intergenerational Relationships

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses transnational care and border regimes in the context of the East Timorese exile in rural Indonesia. Drawing from multi-sited ethnographic research, it explores the ways older people cope with family separation and life in exile, their aspirations, when and how transnational care becomes “on hold”, and how they deal with the impossibility of meeting intergenerational and cultural obligations. Analyzing care using the lens of “circulation”, the paper attends to the asymmetries entailed in intergenerational relationships as well as to how uneven power relations of border regimes shape transnational care exchanges. In the context of “aging in exile”, the paper underlines the importance of understanding older persons’ narratives as they are linked with the ambivalences of other family members across generations. The paper argues that the forms of immobility withholding or limiting caregiving can transcend physical boundaries. They can include the social and emotional borders conflict-divided communities build against one another over time. These “imaginary” borders require us to think about the additional asymmetries entailed in precarious familial relations and how this affects the multiple meanings of care in the context of contemporary border regimes and amid enduring legacies of violence.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging
• exile
• borders
• care
• Timor

Acknowledgement

This paper is based on fieldwork in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, conducted mainly in 2019 and early 2020. I am grateful to all the individuals and families who participated in this study. I wish to thank Megha Amrith, the guest editors to this special issue, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Appreciation also goes to my research fellows at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity and, especially, at the Research Group “Ageing in a Time of Mobility” for stimulating discussions on this topic.

Notes

1. Song in the original Tetum (T.) language: Hau hanoin Loron-loron, Beioan Soe hela ba, balu iha neba, hau lori balu iha mai. Mate onan nain rua hau mesak deit. Ohhho hau oan feto h onia oan sira, tur mesak, hanoin la too. Oan sira iha rai Timor henoin hela hau halo nusa kuitadu. Hau hanoin oan balu iha neba, balu iha mai ba Indonesia. E …. kotadu ba halo nusa, huuuuuu. oan sia ita hanoin ina hauk, oan nusa? Hau iha negara seluk onan e … kuitadu … (translated from Tetum to Bahasa Indonesia by Deastry Yulita Taek).

2. I am indebted to Deastry Yulita Taek, who assisted me during my research stays in West Timor, Indonesia, particularly in February to April, June to July 2019, and February to March 2020. I have changed the names of my interlocutors here to protect their identity. Avõ is a Portuguese-loaned word for grandmother in Tetum and is the respectful way to address older women.

3. The term “East Timorese” is the adjective used to refer to the people of Timor-Leste

4. The term “West Timor” refers to the western half of the Timor-Island, excluding Timor-Leste’s enclave of Oecussi. The term has no political or administrative meaning. The area of West Timor along with the islands of Alor, Rote, Sabu, Sumbawa and Flores comprise the Indonesian province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT). Areas of research included the regencies of Kupang, Atambua and Kefamenanu.

5. By “caregiving”, Baldassar and Merla refer to the broader sense of the word. This can include direct “hands-on” support through being physically co-present, as well as symbolic and emotional, economical, practical and child care, accommodation, and support through virtual forms of communication and co-present (Baldassar & Merla, 2014, p. 12).

6. Special appreciation must be expressed here to anthropologist Andrey Damaledo and Anato Moreira from CIS-Timor for their generous support during this research.

7. There is no reliable data as to the size of this group. In fact, a prominent feature about the East Timorese who remained in Indonesia after the cessation of their refugee status is the uncertainty surrounding their number. The most recent estimate based on census data collected by different agencies as well as thorough research shows that more than 88,000 East Timorese are currently living across West Timor (Damaledo, 2018, p. 16). Older East Timorese in West Timor are smaller in proportion compared to the rest of the population.

8. The official retirement age in Indonesia for civil servants is 58 years old, whereas the age termed as “old age” is 60 years old. Leading demographers in the field of aging in Indonesia, such as Aris Ananta and Evi Arifin, point to this gap as a lost opportunity for productivity (pers. comm. 15. 02. 2019).

9. My interlocutors’ understanding “older age” and “retirement” thus becomes related to their concept of physical capacity. People would say “I am old when I can no longer carry out (physical) work”.

10. 350,000 Indonesian Rupiah converts to approximately 25 US Dollars at the time of research. Many people I spoke with, furthermore, were also not in possession of all other documents they needed to apply for a passport. The Indonesian Rupiah was particularly weak at that time compared to the US Dollars Timor-Leste used as their currency.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Max Planck Research Group “Ageing in a Time of Mobility”.