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.