Agencies in Sampit, Palangkaraya and Jakarta – Security forces called in to quell ethnic violence on Borneo instead turned their guns on each other yesterday while thousands of desperate refugees scrambled to board ships taking them to safety.
The news came as police revealed that more than 100 Madurese settlers massacred and beheaded by Dayak tribesmen in Borneo late on Sunday were refugees seeking safety in a police-protected convoy.
Some 600 "crazed" Dayak tribesmen armed with spears and axes attacked the convoy of 300 refugees in Parenggean town, overwhelming up to 15 police escorts, said national police spokesman Dede Widayadi.
"The Dayaks were crazed, running amok. It was total panic. The police were outnumbered, so they fled to Sampit to get help."
The police were escorting the Madurese from remote settlements around Parenggean to Sampit, four hours away, so they could be evacuated by ship.
Mr Widayadi earlier described the Dayak attackers as "hysterical, in a kind of trance."
Almost 200 of the frantic refugees managed to flee with the police, but the others were cut off, he said. The deaths brought the official toll to 421, although residents say thousands have probably been killed.
There were sporadic exchanges of gunfire between soldiers and police officers yesterday morning in the crowded port area of Sampit, said Wahwudi Anwar, the mayor of the town in central Kalimantan province.
One refugee was killed in the crossfire and at least 10 policemen and soldiers were injured, hospital officials said.
The reason for the skirmishes was not immediately clear. However, in the chaos of the evacuation, many refugees have complained that troops and police demanded payment for allowing people to board the vessels.
Despite the gunfire, a passenger ferry capable of carrying 5,000 people left for the port of Surabaya on Indonesia's main island of Java. Plans for a second sailing were abandoned because of the shooting, officials said. Thousands of refugees have so far made it to Surabaya.
In Palangkaraya, the provincial capital, armed Dayak youths continued their campaign of terror, burning houses abandoned by the Madurese and vandalising others as police looked on. A Dayak man leading one attack said they were determined to rid Borneo of all Madurese by force. "If the provincial Government doesn't support our campaign by expelling Madurese peacefully, we will drive them out of the entire Kalimantan [Borneo] by force in three months," he said.
Police in the city said they had begun disarming Dayaks. A spokesman said hundreds of swords and machetes had been confiscated since Monday night.
Dayaks have declared victory after a 10-day campaign to drive the Madurese migrants from the region. In Sampit, those claims rang true.
Tens of thousands of terrified Madurese have abandoned their possessions and fled. In several towns and villages, the only Madurese remaining have taken shelter near police stations, waiting to be evacuated.
As police and soldiers guarded an overcrowded refugee camp in Sampit, Dayaks armed with spears stood by. Dr Kamaruddin Sukhami, a health official in Sampit, said about 13,000 people were being relocated from hiding places in nearby jungles to the town's makeshift refugee camp. About 30,000 others were already in the camp.
Earlier in the day, scuffles broke out between people frantically trying to board trucks bound for the port area.
Police fired warning shots and beat the refugees to restore order. "I am desperate to leave but there are no places on the ship," said Mis Nari, who has been at the camp with her five children for 10 days. Others were begging for food and medicine from reporters.
Chief Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri would soon go to southern Borneo. President Abdurrahman Wahid is on a two-week visit to Africa and the Middle East and is due back next Tuesday.
Mr Wahid said he would continue his tour. "My visit abroad shows that everything is fine in the country," he told state news agency, Antara. He said the death toll in Borneo was exaggerated.
He has been criticised by lawmakers and the media for pressing on with his travels. "If he was a wise president, he wouldn't have left the country at all," said legislator Tjandra Wijaya.
[On February 28 the Jakarta Post reported the Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as saying that more than half of the National Police (Polri) and Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel are being deployed in conflict areas. The police have around 200,000 personnel while TNI has around 300,000 people - James Balowski.]