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)