Rumors of fresh riots persist in Pontianak

Rumors of fresh riots persist in Pontianak

JAKARTA (JP): The West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak was
tense but calm yesterday as rumors of fresh ethnic violence in
other areas persisted, residents said yesterday.

Local sources contacted by The Jakarta Post by phone said that
it was impossible to obtain information on what was going on in
the West Kalimantan hinterland.

"All military and government officials are tight-lipped. Even
officials of the newly established Alert Command Center won't
talk to journalists here," the source said.

The source said the curfew imposed Feb. 2 is still in force,
though not that tightly, with mobile brigade troops called in
from Jakarta patrolling the streets and selectively body-
searching people for weapons.

According to the source, the latest sporadic clashes happened
after migrants from Madura broke the oath of peace they had made
with native Dayak tribespeople following the Jan. 30 clash in
Sanggau Ledo.

The Sanggau Ledo unrest occurred after two Dayak tribesmen
were stabbed by migrants from Madura. The fast-spreading conflict
stopped when leaders of the two disputing ethnic groups agreed to
make peace.

However late last month a dormitory housing 32 Dayaks was
attacked by masked men. It prompted another wave of clashes in
West Kalimantan, the source said.

AFP reported yesterday that Malaysian border officials in
Sarawak have allowed several hundred Indonesians to cross a
technically closed border with West Kalimantan despite ethnic
violence on the Indonesian side.

"We have allowed more than 300 Indonesians to pass through
over the past eight days but it was at their own risk," John
Reva, senior immigration officer at the Tebudu crossing post told
AFP by telephone.

The temporary closure of the border was ordered by Kuala
Lumpur on Feb. 2.

"The morning after the closure we found more than 80
Indonesians on our side of the border," he said.

The police presence on the border has been reinforced while
the Indonesians concerned were referred to their consulate. Many
of the Indonesians who returned to West Kalimantan had been
stranded after the closure, as they had been working in Malaysia.

Although the main gates have been closed, the border post has
continued to operate and people holding valid travel documents
have been allowed to go through if they insisted, Reva said.

Local policemen are still guarding the post against any
spillover of the trouble from the other side but the situation
seemed to be calm at the moment, Reva said.

"We are still awaiting approval from the authorities to
officially reopen the border, " he added.

The Tebudu crossing, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) from
Kuching, is the major entry point between Sarawak and Kalimantan.
It is also the most popular border crossing among the 12 in
Sarawak.

The National Security Council had said it would only reopen
the Tebudu border post once the situation is declared safe by the
Indonesian authorities.

It had also beefed up security at the Tebudu post as a
precautionary measure to ensure the safety of immigration
officers there.

Political analysts reckoned the racial riots would not spill
over into Malaysia, but warned that "sympathetic feelings" could
provoke Dayaks in Sarawak to act with their "brothers" in
Kalimantan.

They also criticized Indonesia's transmigration policy, saying
it encroached on the livelihood of the Dayaks, who number some
four million people, calling for action by Jakarta to improve the
lot of the indigenous people. (08)