CRISIS CENTRE DIOCESE OF AMBOINA
Jalan Pattimura 32 – Ambon 97124 – Indonesia
Tel 0062 (0)911 342195 Fax 0062 (0)911 355337
E-mail: crisiscentre01@hotmail.com
Ambon, 25 April , 2002
THE SITUATION IN AMBON / MOLUCCAS – Report No. 267
1. SITUATION IN AMBON ON THIS 25TH APRIL – It is 2.00 p.m. now. During the
whole morning there has been hardly any activity in Ambon, at least in the christian
quarters of the city. Offices, schools and shops are closed, traffic is sparse. In the
early morning at some places surreptitiously the RMS flag was raised and some
balloons with the RMS colours could be seen in the sky.
A large muslim crowd gathered at the border of the christian neighbourhood of
Kudamati, causing many Kudamati residents to flee for safer places. Up to now the
locally stationed security forces seem to hold out.
At 1.15 p.m. a bomb explosion could be heard, immediately followed by the burning of
the Silo Church which is under construction after the original church had been
devastated by fire. We went there but could not come close enough to see the
damage, for the road was blocked by security forces. At this moment a lot of shooting
can be heard. It is said that there are several victims. Are we starting all over again?
2. THREE GOVERNORS IN THE NORTH MOLUCCAS – On July 5, 2001, Abdul
Gafur was elected to be the first governor of the new Province of the North Moluccas,
replacing caretaking governor Abdul Muhyi Effendi. However, when it was discovered
that Gafur, in order to obtain this office, had practiced money politics, the House of
Representatives of the North Moluccas annulated the election result and on March 7,
2002 chose Thayib Armayin instead. But on April 19, 2002, Minister of Home Affairs
Hari Sabarno installed a certain Sinyo Harry Saundayang as acting governor to
replace Abdul Muhyi Effendi. Then an alliance of mass based organizations and
non-governmental organizations installed Abdul Gafur as the new Governor. All three
sides claim that their action was in line with the Autonomy Law of governors, regents
and mayors. The one who now in fact is staying in the governor’s residence is
Sarundayang. He is being protected by hundreds of security personnel, due to the
presence of several hundreds of Gafur’s supporters who want to hand over their
petition to the acting governor. Meanwhile influential Djafar Sah, the sultan of Tidore,
expressed full support for Gafur’s installation as governor (summary of report in The
Jakarta Post daily, April 23, 2002).
3. NORTH MOLUCCAS REFUGEES TO RETURN ON OWN EXPENSES – Jakarta
based Sinar Harapan daily newspaper provides some information on the situation of
the refugees of the North Moluccas, which we may summarize as follows. The
interreligious conflict in the North Moluccas caused a mass exodus of refugees –
both Christian and Muslim – towards the end of 1999. The number of those killed then
was 2.083, whereas 1.767 were seriously injured. As many as 97 governmental,
educational and medical facilities were destroyed. The number of mosques destroyed
was 97, churches 106, residents’ houses more than twenty thousand. The number of
refugees was 44.423 families or 199.605 persons. These fled to various other places
in the North Moluccas, among others to Central Halmahera and to the city of Ternate.
Many fled to safety in Bitung and Manado (North Sulawesi). Others to Sorong
(Papua), S.E.Moluccas, Java etc. Especially Ternate is still crammed with Muslim
refugees. Those that are not shielded in theatres, churches, schools and barraques,
are staying in Christians’ empty houses. That is the main reason why Christians
cannot yet return to Ternate, their houses either being destroyed or used by refugees
from Halmahera. Though good mutual understanding between the erstwhile conflicting
parties is rapidly growing, returning to one’s homestead is very much hampered by
insufficient funds for travel expenses, rehabilitation and empowerment efforts. Thus
most of the refugees are expected to return and rebuild their lives on their own
account. For the year of 2002 the government focuses its attention and fincancial help
to the refugees staying in Ternate (Muslims) and the Tobelo area (Christians).
C.J.Böhm msc,
Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina
|
