Refugees flee Riau riot

Refugees flee Riau riot

BATAM ISLAND, Riau: Thousands on Thursday fled to Batam and
mainland Riau following a riot which swept the town of Selat
Panjang on Tebing Tinggi Island.

Antara further reported that some 1,200 had fled to Karimun
Island.

"The refugees who came here have been welcomed at the Maha
Vihara Duta Maitreya, a Buddhist monastery. It is spontaneous
assistance," the manager of the Batam-based Association of
Chinese Indonesians (PSMTI) Yohanes told The Jakarta Post on
Wednesday.

Yohanes said the monastery, which is the biggest in Southeast
Asia, can accommodate about 30,000 people. The refugees, however,
preferred to stay with their own relatives there.

The riot erupted on Sunday with vigilante mobs torching shops
and buildings which the rioters claimed were venues for gambling
and prostitution.

The anarchy spread and a total of 115 shops, four schools and
several discotheques were gutted.

The mobs took the law into their own hands after claiming that
the police had done nothing to stop the gambling and
prostitution.

Most of those who fled are believed to be ethnic Chinese shop
owners and businessmen in Selat Panjang.(26)