Toll in clashes touches 140

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, FEB. 23. At least 140 persons have been killed in bloody ethnic clashes in Sampit in Indonesia's central Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, which is shared by Indonesia with Malaysia and Brunei.

Clashes have been taking place between marauding Dayak tribesmen armed with machetes and bows and arrows and Madurese immigrants, settled by the Government, in the area for the last several days. The country's Antara news agency said the death roll in the clashes could be in the hundreds.

Most of the dead are said to be Madurese settlers. According to some reports, Dayak attackers decapitated their victims and paraded their heads around town.

``As thousands of people... continue to flee to nearby towns and cities to seek refuge, aid workers report that the spectre of hunger and disease is beginning to materialise,'' The Jakarta Post said in an editorial today.

``The flare-up of communal violence that began on Sunday is but the latest to hit Kalimantan pitting groups of Dayak tribesmen against settlers from Madura island off the East Java coast,'' the paper said.

``Certainly, different cultural backgrounds do account for at least some of the friction that from time to time occurs between Indonesia's diverse population groups. Certainly too, cultural differences seem to better explain the violence that erupted this week in central Kalimantan...'' the editorial said.

``The important thing is for the authorities to find out where the problem lies and to act on it with wisdom and in a professional manner. For the people in the affected areas it is much more than a matter of making the right assumptions (for what lies behind the violence). It is a matter of life and death,'' the paper added.

DPA reports:

The Indonesian Navy today ordered three ships to Borneo island to evacuate thousands of refugees fleeing the week- long ethnic clashes.

Around 1,000 army and police personnel were in the central Kalimantan town of Sampit, the flash-point of the violence, and more were expected to arrive overnight.

Indigenous Dayaks, who were once known for their head-hunting, continued to roam the streets but their killing and arson spree against migrant settlers tapered off, local residents said.

Two Navy ships were due to dock this night in Sampit and a third tomorrow to evacuate some of the refugees, many of whom said they wanted to return to their homeland of Madura island.

The clashes, which began on Sunday, turned into a rout as some 13,000 migrants, mostly Madurese, fled their homes and sought refugee in government buildings and police and military barracks across the district.

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