The Dayaks have lived peacefully with all the incoming ethnic groups, except the migrants from Madura. There had been clashes since the 1950s, but the recent violence is the worst. Dayaks who are mostly Catholics had destroyed property belonging to Muslim Madurese in the villages. Both the Dayaks and Madurese are marginalised, poor and compete for the same jobs. But the Madurese are treated favourably by the local police and authorities. The recent riots by the Dayaks are due partly by the to pent-up frustration with the migrant influx.

Background information

In recent decades, logging and intense mining has destroy the forest and the livelihood of the Dayaks. The governments development program encourage investments in plantations, timber factories, mining and other private enterprises which provide employme nt. But land disputes have increased, the National Human Rights Commission established in 1993 have received numerous pleas from villagers and indigenous peoples struggling for their land rights. The Indonesian political system does not allow space for any alternative groups or local parties to develop in the rural areas. Often the displaced people find themselves facing the bureaucracy of the ruling Golkar party. When the development projects go wrong, the ruling party is not wlling to take the respo nsibility to resolve the issues with the local people and the investors. The Golkar party wins the votes of the rural people by campaigning on the basis that the various development projects or enterprises will contribute to the indigenous communities economic growth.

In the district of Kelam, only 3 years ago, a bulldozers of the logging contractors path a road leading into the village. When the bulldozers came, three-quarters of the people were scared. They could not understand how they will survive without the trees. The Indonesian Government offered basic wooden cottages a few kilometers down the road on the edge of a rubber plantation. The governments current target is to permanently resettle 20,000 families a year. Many Dayaks relocate and become squatters on the edges of towns filling the dirty, dangerous and low paid jobs in the plywood factories.

Chronology

December 1996, initially the ethnic conflict between the indigenous Dayaks and migrants from Madura island occurred in the Sanggu-Ledo district, about 100 kilometers north of the provincial capital, Pontianak, West Kalimantan. The Dayaks rioted over the failure of local police to prosecute a Maduran man accused of raping a Dayak woman. The Dayak later killed the Maduran man, inciting violent retaliations and province-wide conflict. The Dayaks of West Kalimantan have more confidence in adat, their own traditional tribal laws, than in the national police and justice system. The Dayaks also complain that migrant workers receive preferential treatment by local officials and are rarely prosecuted for breaking the law. The Dayaks traditionally belief that an offense against an individual is an offense against the whole tribe.

On January 28th, 1997, in the provincial capital Pontianak, a Catholic school attended by Dayak children was attacked and set on fire. In retaliation Dayak youths attacked the Madurese leading to massive violent clashes.

February 5th, military reinforcements landed overnight in West Kalimantan. More then 3,000 troops were flown into the region following the outbreak of riots. The Indonesian military conducted a harsh crackdown leading to scores of deaths to restore order with force. The military has arrested 86 people, 12 of those detained were being questioned by the military while the rest were in police detention

February 6, 1997, the conflict escalated into violent massive clashes. In Menjalin parish, Pontianak, the Catholic dormitory received 5,000 Dayak refugees from neighbouring villages. The refugees were mostly women and children scared of Madurese attacks. The Dayaks are only 2 per cent of the population in Pontianak. The Dayak refugees sought protection from the Madurese who sought revenge.

February 18th, clashes erupted in Sungai Kunyit, some 60 km north-west of the provincial capital of Pontianak. Dayak warriors had looted more then 100 houses and stores belonging to the Madurese. The polices estimated that 100 to 300 people may have died in the riots.

Five thousand Dayaks warriors rampaged through the town and attacked the villages of Merabu, Kampung Jawa and Jirak plus four transmigration sites. These Dayak warriors from the forest hinterland killed Madurese around the area of Pontianak, one of the th ree regions where the killings occurred. Christian church leaders claim the number of Madurese missing or dead is in the thousands and the Dayak casualties, shot by troops, are less than 200. More then 1000 displaced people fleet from the district and s ome are in refugee camps controlled by the military. The damages caused is estimated to be 8.4 million US dollars and the destruction of nearly one thousand homes.

Dayaks armed with spears and machetes attacked road block in Anjungan manned by the military killing one soldier. The troops shot and killed about 20 Dayaks. Areas north of Anjungan, 55 km north-east of Pontianak, and east of Mandor, 70 km north of Pon tianak, were still under Dayak control with minimal military presence. There were Dayak checkpoints on roads leading to Ngabang, 81 km east of Mandor. About 1 million Dayaks in solidarity may continue to attack the Madurese and even the military if they block their path.. It is alleged and widely believed that the army itself has killed large numbers of Dayaks, killings it now wants to cover up.

Basic facts

Indonesia

Population: 200 Million Religion: 90 per cent Muslims

West Kalimantan

Population: 9 million (Chinese, Malays, Bugis from South Sulawesi, Javanese and migrants from Madura)Dayaks: 40 per cent (mostly Catholics; marginalised and poor; majority in the rural areas)

Pontianak

Population: 500, 000Dayaks: 2 per cent (mostly Catholics; marginalised and poor; minority in the city)

Migrants

- Ethnic Chinese, mostly Christian traders, are wealthier than the majority of Muslims
- In the 1930s the Madurese started arriving in West Kalimantan
- In 1970s under government's transmigration program, the Madurese population sharply increased; marginalised and poor
- Most of the transmigrants are Muslims from Java or Madura with no links to the Catholic Dayaks
- New transmigrants work in the plantations - rubber, palm oil, coconut, timber and primary industry