Over 60 killed in Sambas unrest

Over 60 killed in Sambas unrest

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): Over 60 people in Sambas,
mostly Madurese migrants, have been killed and more than 1,000
houses burned down as ethnic clashes in the West Kalimantan
regency escalated on Friday, security authorities said.

Since intensifying on Tuesday, the unrest has forced at least
5,000 Madurese, mostly women and children, to flee their villages
and take shelter in the Pasir Panjang coastal area. More than
1,000 others have been evacuated to the capital here.

The chief of the Tanjungpura military command overseeing
Kalimantan, Maj. Gen. Zainuri Hasyim said the death toll was at
least 64, while West Kalimantan police chief Col. Chaerul Rasyidi
put the number at 55.

In a live interview with TV station RCTI on Friday, Governor
Aspar Aswin appealed for calm.

"Please do not let more people fall victim," the governor
said.

Aswin said the latest violence escalated after the death of an
indigenous Dayak tribesman on Monday, allegedly at the hands of
Madurese.

Dayaks have taken revenge for the killing, Aswin said.

"There's been accusations the Madurese broke their word (not
to start any violence against other parties)," he said.

Separately, Rasyidi told Antara the unrest began to escalate
soon after the Monday killing.

A group of Dayak men from the predominantly Dayak Samalantan
regency returning from work on Monday passed Parapakan village in
the neighboring Pemangkat regency. A group of men believed to be
Madurese stopped the truck and attacked the Dayaks. One Dayak was
killed while the rest of the men were able to escape.

As of Friday, violence against the Madurese -- reportedly
carried out by mobs of Malay and Dayak ethnics -- had reportedly
spread to predominantly Madurese villages in Samalantan,
Sanggauledo, Jawai, Tebas, Pemangkat and Selakau subdistricts.

Dozens of police and military troops were seen on guard across
the Sambas capital of Singkawang, some 145 kilometers north of
here, to maintain order in the predominantly Chinese town.

There are 19 subdistricts in Sambas, a regency with a
population of some 800,000. The regency predominantly consists of
Dayaks, Malays and Chinese-Indonesians with the Madurese being
the minority migrant ethnic group along with the Bugis,
Minangkabaus and others.

Zaenal Abidin, a Madurese legislator representing the United
Development Party (PPP) in the regency legislature, said he could
not understand why the latest violence broke out.

"It's become a second Ambon tragedy... I really don't know
why they (Dayaks) involve themselves," he told The Jakarta Post
by phone from Singkawang on Friday.

He said over the past few months tension was felt among the
Malays, whom the Madurese had fought with in previous months.

"We Madurese have restrained from fighting back. We've
admitted we, although not all of us, have been wrong," he said of
the killing of the Dayak man.

Zaenal said he just returned from the funeral of his 60-year-
old uncle whose throat was slashed on Thursday as he tried to
flee Tembuk village in Selakau where he lived.

He said his uncle was "lucky" because another Madurese was
beheaded the same day.

Zaenal also said many predominantly Madurese villages were
being vandalized.

The legislator said the Armed Forces should take stern actions
against rioters and should impose a shoot-on-sight order as they
did in 1997 when 300 were killed in clashes between Dayaks and
Madurese.

Zaenal said even though the Madurese were small in number,
"ants will bite when cornered".

Police chief Col. Rasyidi in Singkawang on Friday called on
the Madurese to refrain from fighting, vowing that security
personnel would protect them.

"If the Madurese take action, other ethnic groups would take
actions (against them)," Rasyidi told Antara.

Rasyidi toured the affected areas along with Governor Aswin,
Maj. Gen. Zainuri, and Pontianak military chief Col. E.
Kadarusman.

In Jakarta, the chief for general affairs at the Armed Forces,
Lt. Gen. Sugiono, said that the military was ready to send
reinforcements if needed.

Around 1,900 troops already have been deployed to Sambas.
(edt/35/aan)