No exodus of ethnic Chinese, group says

JAKARTA (JP): The newly established Chinese-Indonesian Association (INTI) has dismissed reports of a massive outflow of ethnic Chinese due to fears of unrest before the June 7 general election.

INTI chairman Eddie Lembong discussed the comments in a news conference announcing the association's formation on Tuesday at Hotel Santika in Central Jakarta.

Although he did not supply data on the number of Chinese- Indonesians leaving the country recently, Lembong said it was "improper" to call it an exodus.

Many expatriates and wealthy Indonesians also have left the country due to growing unease over the security situation, he added.

"I'm not saying that there are no Chinese-Indonesians leaving the country due to the fear of riots. But those heading overseas are not only Chinese-Indonesians."

He added that INTI knew most Chinese-Indonesians could not easily forget the trauma and unease caused by the May 1998 riots, in which many ethnic Chinese enterprises were attacked and dozens of Chinese-Indonesian women were reportedly sexually assaulted.

Although Chinese-Indonesians make up about 7.8 million of the country's 210 million population, analysts say the belief they control the economy led to them becoming targets in unrest across the country.

At least 1,000 people died in last year's riots, which contributed to the resignation of Soeharto from his 32-year presidency.

Lembong, who was accompanied by the association's deputy chairman Gilbert Wiriadinata, said several foreign companies have recommended that their employees take early vacations and go abroad with their families.

He said many Chinese-Indonesians were traveling abroad but believed it was due to a combination of factors, including the school holidays.

"Some have gone for vacation or business reasons, while some others due to the fear of possible riots. What we say at the moment is that they will surely return home," Lembong said.

The number of people departing the country has reportedly begun to decrease following the relatively smooth first round of campaigning last week.

Immigration office spokesman Mursanudin Ghani said on Wednesday that the number of outbound international passengers dropped to 4,000 people daily from the 6,000 people per day recorded a week before the kick-off of the campaign on May 19.

"This is an indication that there will be no exodus of people during the campaign," Ghani was quoted by Antara as saying.

Many media reports said recently that about 25,000 Chinese- Indonesians fled the country in the wake of the May riots.

Fears prevailed earlier that unrest would flare up in many parts of the country during the 16-day campaign period.

Except for minor incidents, the fears have been unfounded.

Travel agents and airlines recently said that the "extraordinary number" of airline passengers expected to depart from May 15 to May 31 was mainly due to the school holidays from mid-May to mid-July, as well as individuals' anxiety about the country's uncertain security situation.

Lembong said some commercial interests may have used the term exodus in an effort to drum up business.

"Travel agents and airlines have already got an increase in their incomes. But if the increase is still between 20 percent to 30 percent, it's not an exodus," he said.

"We can't ask people to stop worrying as nobody can guarantee their safety now, but all we can do is ask them to think that the country's problems are also ours." (emf)