Madurese no longer wanted, say Sambas locals

Madurese no longer wanted, say Sambas locals

SINGKAWANG, West Kalimantan (JP): Minister of Defense and
Security/ Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto visited the riot-
torn West Kalimantan regency of Sambas where he met refugees,
residents and troops on Thursday.

He was also greeted by a demonstration protesting the shooting
of a number of residents by security personnel. Meanwhile reports
said dozens of refugees had died in hospitals.

Representatives of an indigenous ethnic group here told
Wiranto they could no longer live with the Madurese.

In a statement addressed to Wiranto, the Sambas Dayak
Community Council said the "culture and character of the
Madurese" were not compatible with that of the locals.

"The ultimate resolution (to the conflict with Madurese
migrants) is that the Dayaks, Malays, Chinese and Bugis people
(in Sambas) no longer want to live with the Madurese," read the
statement signed by I. Libertus Ahie and Adrianto Alio.

They cited the Madurese habit of always carrying machetes.

Community leaders on Madura island have pleaded with the
government not to send the migrants home from West Kalimantan.

Kompas daily quoted on Thursday noted Madurese ulema Fuad Amin
Imron as saying that, despite their shortcomings, Madurese people
generally get along well with people of different ethnic
backgrounds.

Imron called on the Armed Forces to protect the Madurese
without taking the side of any party. The conflicts erupted on a
major scale last week, pitting local Malays and Dayaks against
the migrant Madurese.

Scores of Madurese were reportedly victims of savage killings.

Wiranto met with community figures of several ethnic groups,
including Madurese, at the local legislature in Singkawang.

Sambas is home to around 800,000 people, with Madurese making
up about 8 percent of the total population. The embattled migrant
group is a minority after Dayaks, Malays and Chinese.

As of Thursday, there were no reports of violence, nor any
update on the death toll, which the local press has put at 184.

Antara reported from Singkawang that Wiranto also met with the
peacekeeping force recently deployed to the area.

"You are all here on a peace mission, show the people that you
can carry out your duties in a sympathetic manner," Wiranto
instructed his personnel at the Sambas Police Headquarters here.

Wiranto also visited refugees waiting to be transferred to
Pontianak.

Over 15,000 Madurese refugees were being sheltered in the West
Kalimantan capital of Pontianak, about 145 kilometers south of
Singkawang. Another 10,000 were still stranded at a port in the
Pemangkat subdistrict town and in Singkawang.

Families hiding in forests continued to be evacuated. "We are
grateful we are safe," an old man with his grandchildren told The
Jakarta Post at the Indonesian Red Cross office housing refugees.
"But I don't think we will live in (West Kalimantan) again." Some
said they had survived for five days on whatever they could find
in the forests.

Meanwhile, Sambas police displayed hundreds of Malaysian-made
bullets, along with sharp weapons and homemade rifles, which they
said were confiscated from locals in an operation launched this
week. An officer said the items confiscated included 405
Malaysian-made bullets, 192 Armed Forces' standard bullets, 36
pellets and 91 other bullets apart from spears and daggers.

Forty-seven people were arrested, Antara said. (leo/aan)