Chronology

Chronology of violence in Central Kalimantan

The bloody attacks by indigenous Dayaks on Madurese migrants in the river town of Sampit, Central Kalimantan, have claimed hundreds of lives, mostly Madurese. Dayak mobs have hunted down and killed Madurese, including women, children and the elderly. They also have attacked and burned houses and businesses belonging to Madurese. The violence has forced tens of thousands of Madurese to flee t (...)

Facts	Sampit area Facts & Figures

Geography Location: Central area of Kalimantan Island. Geographic coordinates: 0° 45’ North Latitude and 3° 05’ South Latitude and 1110 East Longitude. Map references: Western part of the Indonesian archipelago. Area: 153.564 sq. km (7.93% of total area of Indonesia: 1.937.179 sq km) Average of altitude: 1 meter (lowest) - 145 meters (highest) Land bounda (...)

People	The Madurese and the Dayak

The following is a look at the two warring ethnic groups on Kalimantan island -- the indigenous Dayaks and the migrant Madurese settlers. Indigenous Dayaks and Malays make up about 40 percent of the population in Indonesia's four Kalimantan provinces. Ethnic Chinese, holders of much of the region's wealth, make up about 12 percent of the population, and Madurese settlers only about 8 percent. (...)

Our refugee problem	Our refugee problem

With unrest continuing to fester in several areas in this country -- EastTimor, West Kalimantan and Maluku in particular come to mind -- the authorities seem to be having difficulty keeping track of the refugees forced to flee the troubled areas, not to mention providing adequate assistance for the victims. To mention an example, some field workers estimate the number of refugeesfrom Ambon, M (...)

The Sampit violence	The Sampit violence

As the latest wave of violence and killings was spreading across parts of Kalimantan on Thursday, reports of scenes grizzlier than can be imagined by any civilized person have begun to come trickling into Jakarta through the news media. On Thursday alone, rescue workers in Sampit, a township about 241 kilometers west of Central Kalimantan's provincial capital of Palangka Raya, were reported t (...)