Rights body to visit Sambas to get full picture on strife

Rights body to visit Sambas to get full picture on strife

JAKARTA (JP): Representatives of the National Commission on
Human Rights will visit Sambas regency on Tuesday for a close-up
look at the devastation from ethnic strife.

Antara reported on Friday the plan was revealed in a meeting
with the Association of Madurese Youths (Higemura).

Members Bambang W. Soeharto and M. Salim will visit the area.

Association members urged the commission to demand the
government effect reconciliation in Sambas. Nearly 200 people,
many of them Madurese migrants, have been killed in the unrest.

"The commission has been rather slow in handling the Sambas
case. The conflict in Sambas has been going on for a long time
now, yet the commission will only visit it on March 30," the
association's coordinator, Muchlis Ali, said after a meeting with
commission member Benyamin Mangkoedilaga.

Benyamin denied the commission was slow in responding to the
troubles, but noted problems in communication with local
community leaders. "Maybe they do not like our presence there,"
he said.

He added the commission was long involved in trying to settle
conflicts in Sambas, including sponsoring agreements between the
groups.

"Based on our data, conflicts in West Kalimantan emerged in
1968 and agreements have been signed since then. However, the
agreements were never promoted down to the grassroots."

Residents have complained only elite members of the community
were involved in the peace pacts.

Benyamin said commission members visiting Sambas would also
present aid from the United Nations Development Program.

In Jakarta, West Kalimantan governor Aspar Aswin hinted at a
possible removal of the Madurese from the province.

"The government is currently debating the possibility of
transmigrating them (Madurese) out of the province and is
discussing the issue with people's representatives," he was
quoting as saying by Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting with
the House of Representatives.

"In the current emotional situation, it is difficult for them
to return to their homes. Due to that, our first step is to cool
down the situation."

Local Malays, Dayaks, Bugis and Chinese on Thursday told Armed
Forces Commmander/Minister of Defense and Security Gen. Wiranto
they could no longer live with the Madurese. They blamed
"incompatible" cultures.

A sociologist told The Jakarta Post on Friday from Pontianak
that he agreed with the possible plan to evacuate Madurese, but
said it might be more feasible to remove them from the regency
than the province. Sambas is a predominantly Malay and Dayak
regency.

"It's better than to let them get murdered," said Syarif
Ibrahim Alqadrie of Tanjungpura University. He has studied
cultural differences in West Kalimantan.

He also urged the Madurese to reflect on the strife because he
believed they failed to adapt to local customs.

Alqadrie also said resentment developed when Madurese usurped
locals in the economy. Madurese, he said, were considered willing
to work hard for low wages. They slowly came to dominate jobs,
land ownership and a large part of the economy.

But locals claimed the migrants resorted to violence to settle
disputes, jarring with their distaste for confrontation.

Nearly 20,000 refugees have been evacuated from the regency to
Pontianak, the provincial capital about 200 kilometers to the
north which remains largely unaffected. In Sambas, about 9,000
refugees are waiting to be evacuated.

The number of refugees is almost half of the 60,000 Madurese
in Sambas, which has a population of 800,000.

Sejangkung subdistrict head M. Sadjri Z. told the Post in
Sambas he urged all Madurese in the subdistrict to leave their
villages, but the latter insisted on staying.

"Usually they'll move only after being attacked," he said.

Alqadrie suggested a long-term solution for every new Madurese
resettlement in West Kalimantan be accompanied by a Muslim cleric
from Madura to help ensure better relations with local. Local
observers have also cited low educational backgrounds as one
problem in inter-ethnic relations.

West Kalimantan's population of four million is 41 percent
Dayak, 39 percent Malay, 14 percent ethnic Chinese and 2 percent
Madurese, with several other ethnic groups making up the
remainder.

In the short term, Alqadrie said, it would also be sensible to
deploy security personnel who were compatible with locals.

If security personnel were mainly from Java, he said, they
would be perceived as similar to the Madurese.

At least 4,000 security personnel are assigned to help quell
the unrest and in the evacuation of tens of thousands of refugees
to Pontianak.

In a traffic accident on Friday in Saeng Raubi village, Sambas
subdistrict, a member of the police's Mobile Brigade was killed
and 11 others seriously injured when their truck overturned. The
victim was identified as First Sgt. Sudarminto. (leo/aan)