Violence in Indonesia spreads, toll 270

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, FEB. 25. The death toll in the week-long ethnic clashes in the Indonesian town of Sampit in the central Kalimantan province has gone up to 270 even as desperate refugees tried to flee the area (Agency reports put the toll at 400).

According to available reports, the violence had also spread to Palangkaraya, the provincial capital of central Kalimantan, where houses of several Madurese settlers were torched by Dayak tribesmen.

The reports said violence had broken out in another town, Samuda, some 40 km south of Sampit. An estimated 15,000 Madurese are said to have fled into the jungles to escape their attackers.

Angry Dayak mobs have attacked Madurese settlers, using savage methods to decapitate the bodies of their victims. The violence stems from a perception that the Madurese are dominating the economy of the region.

In the meantime, thousands of refugees awaited evacuation from Sampit, the worst-hit town. While 5,000 refugees have been evacuated by ship so far, another 10,000 are still waiting to leave. According to reports, these refugees were traumatised and had not eaten for days.

The Indonesian Security Minister, Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, visited the troubled area today, but the Indonesian Government seems powerless to stop the violence unleashed by the Dayak tribesmen.

A Sampit-based priest was quoted as saying that the Dayaks were determined to drive all the Madurese out of the area. ``Wherever there are Madurese, they (the Dayaks) attack. Because they believe that the Madurese must be abolished... I travelled around the city yesterday and they told me they would not go home until all Madurese had left,'' Fr. Willy Bald Kfaoffer of the St. Yohannes Don Bosco Church was quoted as saying.

Reuters reports:

Top Indonesian security officials flew into the ravaged Borneo district on Sunday. The visit marked the first serious response from the embattled Government in Jakarta to the ethnic violence.

The Chief Security Minister, Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, led the delegation that included the military chief, Admiral Widodo, on a tour of Sampit, scene of most of the killings. He said the top priority was to save lives. ``The military and police deployed here should be used effectively to control the situation and return conditions to order,'' Mr. Yudhoyono said in apparent criticism of the free rein armed Dayaks have over most of the town.

Plumes of smoke rose from several places across the town, although it was unclear if there had been fresh attacks. The grisly massacres - some victims were beheaded and their heads paraded through Sampit - Underscore the mess Indonesia finds itself in more than three years after plunging into political and economic chaos.

The beleaguered President, Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid, speaking during a trip to West Asia, reiterated that the nation was in danger of disintegration because unnamed politicians were undermining his rule, the Jakarta Post reported. Raising fears of spreading violence, the official Antara news agency reported that several buildings in Palangkaraya belonging to immigrants had been torched on Sunday.

Meanwhile, some 4,000 supporters of Mr. Wahid hit the streets in east Java on Sunday, resuming protests against efforts to oust him from power. Packed into trucks, the protesters drove around the town of Madiun shouting slogans in support of Mr. Wahid before gathering for a mass prayer.

Police said the civilian militia of a major religious organisation once headed by Mr. Wahid had cordoned off the Madiun office of the rival Golkar party, which has borne the brunt of pro-Wahid street protests this month.

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