More Ambon residents flee to South Sulawesi

JAKARTA (JP): Riots that killed at least 31 people in Ambon, in Maluku last week have caused 3,000 residents to seek shelter in Baubau on Buton Island, South Sulawesi, Antara reported.

They joined tens of thousands of migrants and Ambonese refugees here in Sulawesi.

The 3,000 people boarded the Lambelu vessel from Ambon and arrived in Murhum Baubau port on Wednesday. Some 400 of the refugees were yet to leave the port as they had lost track of their families.

"In fact, we've provided shelters for them ... but due to the large number of people many are stranded on the port," an official was quoted by the news agency as saying.

Deputy governor Paula Renyaan, who chairs the committee in charge of assisting refugees, said on Monday that the recent riots had added a further 30,000 people to an estimated 40,000 displaced people in Ambon and 35,000 in Tual.

The government said on Thursday an estimated 470,000 refugees were now sheltering in the South Sulawesi capital of Ujungpandang after fleeing unrest in the troubled provinces of Maluku, East Timor, Aceh and Irian Jaya.

Separately, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) disclosed on Friday their latest information on the outbreak of violence in Ambon. The commission said 82 people had been killed, 141 injured and four were declared missing.

From the above figure, 44 people were the victims of the authorities' shooting spree. The commission is still seeking clarification on the reason for the other deaths, injuries and the identity of those missing.

Kontras also said it had only received data that identified 13 of the dead victims.

Kontras in its statement demanded the neutrality of security forces in handling the case and bringing an end to violence in the province. It also called for all communities in Ambon to seek a truce and a peaceful dialog with each other.

Separately, the United Nation's World Food Program (WFP) said it had extended aid for an estimated 18,000 refugees in the riot- torn city of Ambon, the news agency reported.

"WFP has granted 670 tons of rice, cooking oil, sugar, salted fish, soup, and a number of basic needs to be distributed to the refugees in the next three months," said a spokesman for the provincial social affairs office, Saud Hutadjulu, here on Friday.

The WFP aid will be distributed through the Asian Cycling Federation. Each person is set to receive 400 grams of rice a day. (edt/byg)