Riot refugees to go back to Kupang

UJUNGPANDANG: South Sulawesi Governor HZB Palaguna said his office will help migrants from the area return to Kupang, East Nusatenggara, where they earn a living.

Up to 2,000 migrants fled Kupang for South Sulawesi following riots last Nov. 30 in which six mosques were burnt and vandalized and many homes attacked.

"We will pay for all expenses for residents intending to return to their hometowns," whether by land, air or sea, Antara reported Palagna as saying on Tuesday after a breaking of the fast meal.

The administration also promised to help repair homes in Kupang which were damaged in the riots.

On Nov. 30, three mosques were burnt and three others were vandalized, in apparent retaliation for the Ketapang tragedy in Jakarta, in which 22 churches were burnt and vandalized and 14 people killed. A church in Ujungpandang was burnt on Dec. 4.

Palaguna, quoting sources in predominantly Christian Kupang, said authorities and the public guaranteed their safety, adding that the community had missed the hundreds of South Sulawesi people working there, mostly as traders.

However, the migrants said they were still traumatized by the riots. "We'd rather stay here in safety with our families in the kampong," Mustafa, one of those who had taken refuge, said.

His house and all the furniture inside was destroyed by mobs, he said. Migrants from South Sulawesi of the Bugis-Makassar ethnic group are estimated at 7 million people across the country, including around 35,000 living in East Nusatenggara.