Thousands of petrified refugees crammed onto Indonesian navy ships yesterday to escape mobs roaming through a Borneo town, as officials said the death toll from a week of ethnic slaughter had reached 210.
Raising the specter of fresh bloodshed, one official said the 2,000 soldiers and police in Sampit had not fanned out through the town to patrol streets stained by a week of violence between indigenous Dayaks and immigrants from Madura island off Java.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Witnesses said 10 trucks packed with spear-carrying Dayaks were heading to the river town in Central Kalimantan Province.
The Dayaks -- once fearsome headhunters -- wore red headbands symbolizing ancient tribal wars and had painted their faces.
"They [security forces] have not been seen patrolling the streets [in general]," the local government official said from Sampit, 750km northeast of Jakarta.
"They have not been ordered to disarm those carrying spears, chopping-knives and other traditional sharp weapons."
The official said security forces had only been ordered to protect buildings and makeshift camps housing refugees, who are mainly Madurese and numbered 24,000 in total.
He did not say why. Witnesses said troops also protected routes to the river dock.
Officials from the military, which has long been blasted for failing to curb violent unrest across the world's fourth most populous country, were not available to comment.
The latest Kalimantan violence underscores Indonesia's volatility and flared as embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid left on a trip to the Middle East and Africa this week, leaving behind a fragile country in desperate need of leadership.
Before leaving, Wahid dismissed fears of an explosion of unrest, comments that now ring hollow.
Witnesses and officials say the Sampit violence began as fighting between the long-time rival groups broke out, but has since shifted into one-sided Dayak attacks on Madurese.
Another official said the only way safety could be restored was if the Madurese left.
"It is better that the Madurese leave. This area will be safe then," said the official, who declined to be identified.
No fresh attacks were reported yesterday, but officials have been gradually revising up the death toll, as more bodies are discovered in Sampit and surrounding areas.
Some victims have been beheaded and their heads paraded through town. Others have been burned to death.
Numerous homes and buildings in Sampit have been torched.
"According to the data we have, the number of dead is 210. The condition in the town is improving but is still a bit tense," local government spokesman Jauhar Pauzni said.
He added 11 people had been wounded.
Pauzni said 2,100 refugees had left on one navy ship for Java while 2,500 refugees were boarding another navy vessel. A passenger ship was also winding its way up the steamy jungle river and was expected to pick up 5,000 people later yesterday.
Officials had previously said three navy ships would dock.
Earlier, frantic refugees clutching belongings scrambled onto trucks taking them to the navy boats at the river port. Soldiers armed with automatic weapons rode along for protection. They have set up cordons around the refugee camps.
Officials say some 15,000 Madurese fled Sampit earlier in the week.
Smoke still rose from burning buildings in several places in Sampit and many shops were closed.
Police have arrested about 80 people over the violence, including three alleged masterminds, the official Antara news agency reported.
Long simmering tension between Dayaks and Madurese occasionally boils over in Kalimantan, stoked by land disputes and competition for jobs.
Hundreds have died in Indonesia's Borneo provinces in the past two years in unrest between Dayaks and mainly Madurese.
Tensions have been fanned by the now abandoned and widely discredited policy of resettling Indonesians from overcrowded areas, such as Madura and Java, in underpopulated provinces.
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