Madurese, Dayaks need government mediation<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government had stopped short of playing a
\nmediatory role in efforts being made to reconcile Central
\nKalimantan's indigenous Dayaks and Madurese migrants, a Dayak
\ncommunity leader announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
K.M.A. Usop said the government could have played a better
\nrole to deal with the ethnic conflict, which has displaced
\nthousands of Madurese families from Central Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The two ethnic groups were engaged in bloody clashes in
\nFebruary in Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan and
\nthe southern town of Sampit. One estimate has put the death toll
\nat 5,000, mostly Madurese.<\/p>\n
The ethnic conflict has been deeply rooted for decades. The
\nDayaks see the Madurese as migrants who do not respect local
\nculture and glorify violent means to resolve differences.<\/p>\n
\"The two ethnic groups need the government's mediation to
\nsolve the conflict,\" Usop told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines
\nof a workshop on ethno-religious conflict in Indonesia on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
Usop, who is a lecturer at the University of Palangkaraya,
\nsaid that the appointment of Vice President Hamzah Haz as
\nmediator has yet to have any effect.<\/p>\n
Various attempts aimed at reconciling the opposing parties had
\nnot succeeded because there was no mediator, he said.<\/p>\n
Conflict between the Madurese and Dayaks resurfaced earlier
\nthis month when the Dayaks rejected hundreds of Madurese who were
\nmeant to return to their homes in Central Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The Madurese attempted a homecoming after the Central
\nKalimantan People's Congress set conditions in June for the
\nreturn of Madurese immigrants. The conditions were that only
\nMadurese born in Central Kalimantan, who had no criminal record
\nand respected local culture would be welcomed.<\/p>\n
Usop said that many Dayak people were still hostile to the re-
\nentry of the Madurese because the natives were still \"very
\ntraumatized\" by the recent bloody conflict.<\/p>\n
\"They (Madurese) should not return until security is assured
\nfor both the Dayaks and Madurese,\" Usop said.<\/p>\n
Usop's caution, it turned out, is in line with the policy of
\nthe Governor of Central Kalimantan, Asmawi Agani.<\/p>\n
Asmawi said in Palangkaraya on Wednesday that the province
\nwould remain closed to Madurese until the administration had
\ncompleted a bylaw that would regulate migration in the area.<\/p>\n
The governor also asked Madurese who had been in Central
\nKalimantan to leave for the sake of their own security.<\/p>\n
\"No Madurese are welcome because the bylaw is being
\ndeliberated with the provincial legislative council,\" Asmawi
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Central Kalimantan Legislative Council
\nHardeman K. Nyaring called on the Madurese not to insist on re-
\nentering the province.<\/p>\n
He was responding to reports that many of the 163 Madurese
\nrefugees stranded in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, want to
\nreturn to Central Kalimantan. (09)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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