Jakarta – The International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned Indonesia of potential communal conflict in the country's easternmost province due to strained relations between Muslims and Christians.
"Papua has seen periodic clashes between pro-independence supporters and government forces, but conflict between Muslim and Christian communities could also erupt unless rising tensions are effectively managed," the ICG said in a report released Monday.
It said the interreligious ties were likely to worsen because of "demographics, aggressive proselytizing by hard-line elements (among) both sides' demographics, political use of religious history and outside developments that harden perceptions of the other as enemy".
"The potential for communal conflict is high in Papua because both sides consider themselves aggrieved," ICG senior advisor Sidney Jones said.
"Indigenous Christians feel threatened by ongoing Muslim migration and a sense that the government is endorsing Islamic orthodoxy at the expense of non-Muslim minorities.
"Muslim migrants feel democracy may be leading to a tyranny of the majority, where in the long term they will face discrimination or even expulsion," Sidney said.
The report said tensions were most acute along Papua's west coast, where they almost erupted into an open conflict in Manokwari and Kaimana districts in 2007.
The Manokwari drama started in 2005, when Christians mobilized to prevent the establishment of an Islamic center and mosque on a site they considered holy.
The communal tensions intensified in 2007 when a draft of a local government ordinance, believed to discriminate against non-Christians, surfaced among the public.
A new draft, much milder but still likely to face opposition from the Muslim community, appeared in May 2008.
The ICG noted an influx of more exclusivist groups in both communities, including hard-line Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia and, on the Christian side, evangelical churches such as Jemaah Jalan Suci (Congregation of the Holy Way).
The report recommended that authorities avoid supporting exclusivist religious groups, reject discriminatory local regulations and seek to identify areas of high tension.
It also called for public debate on the percentage of jobs for Papuans and the impact on further migration of non-Papuans.
Wahidin Ismail, a member of the Regional Representatives Council from West Papua, however, doubted the report.
"I've just come back from several districts in West Papua. The situation is not as dramatic as the report suggests," he told The Jakarta Post.
Wahidin said there had been a demand for a regional bylaw aimed to change Manokwari into a sort of "Bible city", but this initiative was never heeded.
Wahidin said West Papua had an interreligious forum to prevent communal conflict in the province.
"This forum works actively to prevent West Papua from entering the communal conflict seen in areas like Maluku and Poso (Central Sulawesi)," he said. (alf)