A week of horrific ethnic clashes occurred in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan at the end of
February. Indigenous Dayaks turned on immigrant settlers from Madura killing at least 400 with spears and machetes.
In one of the most brutal attacks truck loads of Madurese, who had been promised safe passage having come out of hiding, were set upon; 118 were killed including all the women and children, many were beheaded.
The armed police protecting the Madurese in this instance ran away from Dayaks armed only with spears. In other areas the police and soldiers have been accused of standing idly by while shops and offices have been looted and Madurese killed.
While soldiers in the port of Sampit have been only allowing refugees from the violence onto ships if they first pay a bribe.
This is not the first ethnic violence in Kalimantan (the former Borneo). Over 3000 Madurese have been killed in a series of outbreaks of violence since 1997.
From the 1960’s Indonesian governments have had a policy of encouraging “transmigration” from the overpopulated areas of Java (Madura is an island of the coast of Java) to the outlying islands.
Many of the Madurese in Kalimantan are second generation settlers and they came to control many local markets, trade and transport in the province fueling resentment among the local Dayaks.
Tensions were increased by the activities of the big logging companies and palm oil plantations which trampled on the land rights of the indigenous Dayaks and often employed Madurese workers.
But the violence this time continued uncontrolled for ten days with the police and troops doing little to intervene. This is part of a pattern in Indonesia where the army and militarised police forces either instigate or do nothing to stop ethnic clashes.
In the Molluccas troops connived with armed Muslim extremists to attack Christians who fought back by forming their own militias.
Promoting a situation of chaos serves the armies interests well, showing that the politicians are powerless without them and paving the way for a military intervention to “restore order” at some time in the future.
The terrible events on Kalimantan have further weakened President Wahid’s position already under threat of impeachment. Opposition politicians have denounced his decision to continue with his two week tour to Africa and the Middle East while the violence spread. He left declaring “all was calm” and has repeated this claim while abroad.
For several days the army claimed there was no one to order an intervention in Kalimantan and Jakarta politicians were happy to let the crisis escalate to undermine Wahid’s position.
The Vice-President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, only became directly involved after a fortnight, visiting the area and showing her concern, no doubt to show up the absent President.
The ethnic clashes will only stop in Indonesia once the underlying economic causes have been dealt with – the growing land hunger, poverty and unemployment. In many parts of Kalimantan Dayaks and Madurese live side by side without problems.
The Dayak pogromists need to be isolated and dealt with, not by the army which merely stokes the violence, but by an organised multi-ethnic peoples militia which is armed for the purpose.