North Maluku conflict runs deep

North Maluku conflict runs deep

By Ester Indahyani Jusuf and Desideria Utomo

This is the second part of an article on the conflict in North
Maluku.

JAKARTA (JP): After Indonesia achieved independence, the
Sultanate Confederation of North Maluku, under the sultan of
Ternate, was conveyed local sovereignty in eastern Indonesia.
Under the government of the time, known as the United States of
Indonesia, the sultan of Ternate governed the State of Eastern
Indonesia.

Subsequently, however, the dominant role of the sultanate in
local government gave way to the current system of government,
which prescribes that power be concentrated in the hands of the
central government. Enactment of Law No. 5/1974 concerning
fundamentals of local government and Law No. 5/1979 on village
government were the means by which the centralized system of
government was implemented.

It significantly eroded the traditional social structure of
North Maluku, which was based on the sultanate system of
government and feudalism. Adding to this were the appointment of
local government officials who were not locals. As these changes
took place, migrants continued to arrive.

The local inhabitants of North Maluku have not been able to
benefit from the exploitation of natural resources in their
region, nor is there balance between the economic development of
the region and the detriment caused by the exploitation of local
natural resources.

The scarcity of both formal and nonformal educational
facilities is only one of the many symptoms of the region's
underdevelopment. Many of those with a strong interest in
education pursue higher education in Java, where well-educated
native North Maluku people are more likely to be found than in
their native land.

The structure of religious education has also significantly
affected the social character of the region. Exclusive religious
communities, which are effectively isolated from the cultural and
religious diversity of the region, are a potential breeding
ground for prejudice and negative sentiment toward other groups
in society.

Prejudice and preconceptions have been further nurtured under
the closed and repressive social and political system of the New
Order regime. For 32 years, violence and an atmosphere hostile to
dialog preserved superficial social order and political
stability, simultaneously fostering seeds of potential conflict.

These mechanisms of control also have the potential side
effect of socially justifying the use of violence to deal with
heterogeneity within society.

The spirit of reform and the proliferation of the
prodemocratic movement, which has swept the country since January
1998, left North Maluku and its people virtually untouched. In
fact, there has never been a recorded prodemocratic mass movement
by the people of North Maluku.

Democracy encourages dialog between different parties, to
attend to those with opposing views and to discuss and resolve
differences by nonviolent means. The lack of democratic spirit,
combined with the absence of an age of renaissance (Aufklarung),
which introduces rationality to society, has contributed to the
vulnerability of the people of North Maluku to sectarian
conflict.

Religion forms only the tip of the iceberg of the social
conflict. The tangible problems of North Maluku that have long
troubled the region lie on far more substantial issues.
Underdevelopment of the region despite the richness and abundance
of its natural resources and hence low levels of education,
injustice within the bureaucratic system of the regional
government, as well as the region's political and social tensions
form a web of inseparable social predicaments.

Together with the region's strong history of warfare in the
spirit of Muslim solidarity, these conditions formed a solid
basis on which powerful groups with certain interests in creating
social unrest have acted to provoke the killing of thousands of
people.

The speed and breadth in which the chain of incidents which
led to the mass slaughter, and the active participation of some
local politicians, point to the use of organization and
facilities to which only members of the political elite have
access. The lack of forceful action by security forces until
recently can also be seen as being permissive of the unrest and
can be categorized as violence by omission.

To restore peace, law enforcement and good governance is
urgent. An open and communicative social and political system and
reform of the local government bureaucracy are also required. An
open local election for the appointment of the governor of North
Maluku would be a step toward a more democratic local government.

The central government contemplated granting regional autonomy
to North Maluku. It gives rise to an opportunity for change and
regional development, the need for which has been desperately
felt by the people of North Maluku.

Adequate aid for refugees in providing medical services,
restoring housing and education, assistance in finding new jobs
for those who have lost their livelihood and other public
services are also urgently needed. If local transmigration is a
contemplated option, its suitability and viability must be
investigated properly case by case, to avoid the recurrence of
incidents of the kind, which occurred in North Maluku's Malifut
district.

There is also a need to evaluate the religious education
system, with the provision for a greater emphasis on the
importance and need for peaceful relationships between different
religious and ethnic groups, as well as in instilling
humanitarian values.

Antidiscrimination campaigns need to be carried out on a large
scale among the respective religious and ethnic groups. Dialog
between diverse groups and reconciliation between them will also
support the region's recovery.

Only through democratic mechanisms will the latent dilemmas of
North Maluku be solved. If not, the problems will remain time
bombs within society. They will explode again given enough
provocation.

The urgent, specific and special needs of North Maluku require
particular attention and should be placed in a special agenda to
be discussed by the House of Representatives. But most critical
of all is the political will of the government to resolve the
problems for the restoration of peace in North Maluku.

Ester Indahyani Jusuf is chairwoman of Solidaritas Nusa
Bangsa, a private group campaigning against discrimination which
conducted a study on the conflict in North Maluku. Desideria
Utomo is a staff member of its research and development
department.