Poso Muslims return home, Christians take refuge

Poso Muslims return home, Christians take refuge

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Increasing numbers of Muslims from Poso, Central Sulawesi had
left refugee camps in Palu for their hometowns to celebrate Idul
Fitri, while a wave of families who fled recent clashes in Poso
arrived in Manado, North Sulawesi.

At least 500 out of a total of 19,000 Poso Muslims who had
been living in refugee camps in the Central Sulawesi capital of
Palu for two years, had begun returning to home in the last week,
despite the fresh violence, Antara reported.

Meanwhile, Manado Social Affairs Office head Jantje Kumajas
said on Thursday that some 2,000 Poso refugees (believed to be
Christians) had entered Manado, a mainly Christian community --
boosting numbers to an overall total, including refugees from
Maluku, to 25,000.

The number was expected to rise, he said, adding that the
numbers would increase problems on the Manado administration
already burdened with refugees from the North Maluku conflict.

Reports said that most of the Poso refugees returning home
were civil servants, whose houses were luckily 'untouched' during
the sectarian clashes.

Many of them used public transport, while others used official
cars.

"Reports said that things have returned to normal there (in
Poso). This encourages us to return just for the Idul Fitri
holidays," said Ida, wife of a civil servant from Gebangrejo
village in Poso.

Ida, who has been living in a refugee camp in Palu since May
2000, said that her family might return to Poso for good. "It
depends on the situation. If violence stops we will live here.
Fortunately our house was not destroyed by rioters."

Owners of public buses traveling the Palu to Poso route said
they had enjoyed an increase in the number of passengers.

"In the last five days we have had good days with at least 20
passengers per trip. Usually we had only around ten," an employee
of Alugoro buses said.

Kumajas appealed to the central government and international
bodies for help.

He said that the administrations of Central Sulawesi, North
Maluku, North Sulawesi and the central government must work
together to deal with the refugee problem.

Meanwhile in Jakarta, Christian organizations and political
parties called for the UN Security Council's intervention to
resolve the prolonged conflict saying the Indonesian government
was not serious in resolving the violence.

"The (government) plan to impose both civilian, or military
states of emergency will not be effective in easing tension in
Poso unless authorities at the local administration level are
committed to resolving the conflict," Cornelius Ronowidjojo,
spokesman for the Christian organizations and political parties,
said in a press conference here on Thursday.

Cornelius, also secretary general of the Consultative
Committee of the Indonesian Christian Community, said the
sectarian conflicts in Poso, Maluku, and other regions had been
engineered to discredit President Megawati Soekarnoputri's
government.

"We are scheduled to meet the President tomorrow (Friday) to
express our special deep concern about these matters," he said.