Some Sambas refugees seek 'special places'
JAKARTA (JP): A senior ulema urged the government on Wednesday to not only attend to the physical needs of about 21,000 Madurese refugees from Sambas in West Kalimantan, but to also facilitate their necessary romantic activities.
H.A. Malik, chairman of the West Kalimantan chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), said he has received several complaints from married refugees who say they feel restricted.
Citing complaints from refugees sheltered at the packed Sultan Syarif Abdurahman soccer stadium and other sports stadiums in the provincial capital Pontianak, Malik said couples had requested that lights not be left on all night.
"The lamps should, at least, be switched off at certain times," the head of the provincial office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs quoted the refugees as telling him recently.
Malik, however, told the frustrated Madurese to search for an appropriate setting before retiring.
The refugees from Sambas regency have arrived in droves in Pontianak and other centers in the province, fleeing clashes between the migrant Madurese and other ethnic groups in the province.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono, who has just returned from West Kalimantan, said the President has agreed to plans to relocate the Madurese from Sambas, as demanded by the indigenous inhabitants.
But Habibie instructed him to extend the deadline for their relocation for at least two months to enable the refugees to choose their new destinations.
The President said the refugees should be given the freedom to choose the place where they would make their new homes.
"It must be considered first whether they want to work (in the destination areas), and whether local people are ready to accept them," Haryono said after meeting Habibie at the State Palace.
Haryono said that, as of Tuesday, the clashes had claimed 165 lives, including 154 Madurese and 10 Malays, and seriously injured 62, while 2,127 houses were burned down in the month-long clashes.
The official number is lower than press reports, which said more than 200 had been killed in the violence.
According to the minister, 20,782 Madurese have left Sambas since the violence erupted, while 7,913 people remained.
Meanwhile, more than 1,600 refugees from Sambas arrived in Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya on Wednesday.
The East Java administration financed the migrants' return to their home towns in Bangkalan, Madura.
Separately, noted economist Didiek J. Rachbini criticized the government for its slow actions and lack of political will in handling the ethnic conflicts in the province.
Speaking in his capacity as the coordinator of the Madurese Forum for Humanitarian Campaigns (Kamus), Didik said angrily in Yogyakarta that the killings of Madurese could only be compared with that of Pol Pot in Cambodia.
He also demanded that Habibie fire "incapable" governor Aspar Aswin and the provincial police chief Col. Chaerul Rasyidi.
Meanwhile in Pontianak, appeals of peace was scattered through the air on Wednesday, Antara reported.
It was signed by 12 prominent community leaders representing the Dayaks, Malays, Madurese, Bugis and Chinese, apart from local officials.
Among others the messages appealed that people could help one another and work together to retain peace. Earlier community leaders other than the Madurese said they could no longer live with the Madurese, citing incompatible cultures. (prb/23)