East Indies Philippine independence. The East Indies may also include the former French-occupied Indochina, former British territories Brunei and Singapore and former Portuguese East Timor. It does not, however, include the former Dutch New Guinea western New Guinea (West Papua), which is geographically considered to be part of Melanesia. The inhabitants of the East Indies are almost never called East Indians, distinguishing them both from inhabitants of the Caribbean (which is also called the West Indies) and from the indigenous peoples of the Americas who are often called "American Indians." In colonial times they were just "natives". However, the peoples of the
Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service for censoring the mail of Royal Netherlands Navy and Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) personnel. It also checked whether the spouses of Dutch troops in Australia presented a security risk. It was not involved in carrying out secret intelligence operations. That was the task of the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD), which was set up in April 1942 on the instructions of US General Douglas MacArthur, and was responsible for sending out agents to commit sabotage and gather intelligence in occupied areas. Two Dutch officers were assigned to the Dutch East Indies section, which, like NEFIS, was based in Melbourne.