Sarawak shuts border over Indonesian racial unrest

Sarawak shuts border over Indonesian racial unrest

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island
has shut all its border crossing posts with Indonesia following
mounting racial tension in several Indonesian towns.

The national news agency, Bernama, said yesterday the closure
order on all 12 border posts along Sarawak's southern border with
Indonesia's Kalimantan province was issued by the state security
council on Sunday.

It said the order follows news reports of racial unrest in
west Kalimantan where a mob of 5,000 indigenous Dayak tribesmen
burnt and looted homes and shops belonging to settlers from the
Indonesian island of Madura. Most Sarawakians are of Dayak
ancestry.

The border closure hit scores of Indonesian travelers who had
crossed into Sarawak to shop for goods in preparation for a major
Moslem festival later this week.

Malaysians who had traveled to the Indonesian town of
Pontianak, a 10-hour journey, are also reportedly stranded as bus
companies suspended their tours into Indonesia last Friday.

Bernama quoted an Immigration Department official as saying
the border crossings will remain shut until notified by the
security council.

Extra policemen were seen deployed at the crossings to guard
against any "spill-over" of the unrest, while civil servants
living along the border posts were told to send their families
away for the time being.

News reports said several Indonesian towns, including
Pontianak, have been hit by racial and religious unrest in recent
days.

Multiracial Malaysia is sensitive about any form of racial or
religious dissent after hundreds of people were killed during
riots between Malays and Chinese in 1969.