Thousands flee after Mamasa chaos

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Over 6,000 local people in Mamasa regency have been forced to flee their homes for the relative safety of other districts, after a local conflict, precipitated by a decision to divide Polewali Mamasa (Polmas) into two regencies in South Sulawesi, Antara news agency reported on Saturday.

The conflict erupted on Monday last week, and at least three people have been killed. The fighting has mostly stopped but the situation remains tense.

Onesmus, the spokesman for the Mamasa administration, said that of the 6,248 total who had to flee, well over 5,000 had taken refuge in the subdistricts of Taora, Malatiro and Lakahang, located on the border of Mamasa and Mamuju regencies. The remaining refugees have mostly stayed together in central Mamasa, said Onesmus.

"Most of those fleeing are mothers and their children," he was quoted as saying.

According to Onesmus, most of the displaced villagers are staying with relatives or friends in other areas. He added that there was no report yet on whether refuge-seekers would be accommodated at schools or other government buildings.

In order to help them with food and other necessities, he claimed that the Mamasa administration had donated 2.5 tons of rice and 400 boxes of instant noodles to them.

The Mamasa administration has also reportedly sent a letter to the South Sulawesi governor, requesting more donated food, clothing and medicine for the refugees.

Meanwhile, the violent clashes had died down as of Saturday evening, and Onesmus said that the security situation was mostly under control.

Activities in markets, schools and government offices had returned to a semblance of normalcy, albeit with less people, said Onesmus.

The conflict in Mamasa was triggered by a government decision to divide Polewali Mamasa (Polmas) into two regencies.

The residents of Aralle, Mambi and Tabulahan subdistricts, mostly migrants from a large island in western Indonesia, oppose the split and rejected the government's bid to incorporate the three subdistricts into Mamasa regency, due to ethnic, religious and economic factors.

However, at least three other indigenous ethnic groups in Mamasa have been demanding that the regency be split. The deep socio-religious differences eventually erupted into attacks last Monday and Tuesday, resulting in the death of three people.

Mamasa is a predominantly Christian area, while residents from Aralle, Mambi and Tabulahan subdistricts are mostly Muslims.

The three dead victims came from these three subdistricts.

In order to prevent further clashes, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno has ordered the postponement of the government's decision to divide Polmas along ethno-religious lines.

Meanwhile, as of Saturday, the Mamasa police had not arrested any suspects in the killings, although they claimed they had been investigating continuously for the past five days.

"We are still searching for at least five people, who were allegedly involved in the killings," said Adj. Comr. Samad Salim, the deputy chief of Mamasa Police.

So far, the police had questioned four witnesses, he said.

The five alleged suspects who the police have identified, but declined to name publicly were all from Mamasa, said Samad.