More Ambon residents flee to South Sulawesi

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)