Central Kalimantan restricts reentry of Madurese

Central Kalimantan restricts reentry of Madurese

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Kalimantan government has proposed a
bylaw which restricts Madurese displaced by recent ethnic
conflicts from reentering the province.

If passed by the provincial legislative council, Central
Kalimantan will formally close its doors to Madurese who have
been involved in criminal acts.

The ruling is contained in a new bylaw that governor Asmawi
Agani presented to the legislative council on Thursday for
approval.

Tens of thousands of Madurese were displaced in an ethnic
clash between them and the indigenous Dayak early this year. The
Dayak have claimed that the immigrant Madurese acted like
colonizers toward the natives. One estimate put the death toll in
the conflict up to 5,000, mostly Madurese.

Last week, the Central Kalimantan natives rejected hundreds of
Madurese who arrived from East Java. Now, they are being
accommodated in the South Kalimantan capital of Banjarmasin.

In a recent Central Kalimantan People's Congress, the Dayak
and other ethnic groups had set a host of conditions to limit the
return of Madurese. For example, they will accept only Madurese
who were born and grew up in Central Kalimantan and are of good
character.

The bill requires that the returning Madurese should respect
local culture and customary laws would be imposed on them as
well. Under customary law, the perpetrator may be expelled from
Central Kalimantan.

Henry L. Binti, secretary of the team drafting the bylaw, said
that the restrictions were necessary because in the past, social
conflicts were usually started by Madurese thugs.

"Those who have a criminal record should give up their dream
of returning to Central Kalimantan. We don't want the ethnic
conflicts to break out again," Henry said as quoted by Antara.