HTML pages designed & maintained by Alifuru67 Copyright © 1999/2000 - 1364283024 & 1367286044		Want to Help? CRISIS CENTRE DIOCESE OF AMBOINA Jalan Pattimura 32 - Ambon 97124 - Indonesia Tel 0062 (0)911 342195 Fax 0062 (0)911 355337 E-mail: compro@ambon.wasantara.net.id Ambon, January 30, 2001 THE SITUATION IN AMBON / MOLUCCAS - Report no. 132 EVACUATION OF KESUI CHRISTIANS - Most of the following information has been summarized from "Suara Maluku" newspaper. Since the Kesui case seems to have become front-page news, we report on it more elaborately than usually. 1. The Team - Part of the evacuation team which had left for the islands of Kesui and Teor, yesterday returned from its mission. The team was led by the Bupati (regional government chief) of the Central Moluccas (of which Masohi, South Ceram, is the capital), named Mr. Rudolf Rukka. The governor of the Province of the Moluccas, Dr. M.Saleh Latuconsina, went with the team as back up; thus he declared on local TV last night. Other members of the team were the chairperson of the Protestant provincial Synod, Mr. Sammy Titaley, the chairperson of the Crisis Centre of the Diocese of Amboina, Father Agustinus Ulahaiyan, and several other MUI (moslem), church- and government officials. When asked by reporters about any forced islamisation Mr. Rudolf Rukka stressed that this team was not meant to be an investigation team but an evacuation team.  2. Chronology - The team left for those islands (which lie at a distance of about 400 kilometers east of Ambon) on January 23, on the navy vessel "Teluk Ende". The governor, Mr. Rukka and several others boarded a smaller vessel of their own, to be able to return to Ambon earlier, whereas the others would accompany those who wanted to be evacuated, to Tual, Kei Islands, S.E.Moluccas (a distance of about 180 km). Another vessel had been sent the day before to persuade local leaders and "rajas" from the nearby islands of Gorong, Kataloka, Ondor and Ambaskaro (Gorong and Geser are said to be the base of the orginal jihad attackers) to be ready to board the ship with the evacuation team, bound for Kesui. So after picking up these leaders, the "Teluk Ende" at last anchored off the village of Tanah Baru, island of Kesui. On January 25 the ship was boarded by those who wanted to be evacuated. Next was the village of Utha. On January 26 the ship headed for the island of Teor, which is a voyage of at most two hours. On Teor most of the christian villages had succeeded to hold out against the attackers. At the village of Gilboy a meeting with the local population was held, and it was agreed upon that there would be no attacks any more. The team then went on to the village of Lapang. On January 27 a meeting was held with the residents of the christian villages of Rumoy and Kerker. These residents complained about shortage of food. They asked that their wives and children who had previously fled to Ambon would be sent back to Teor. 3. Numbers of evacuated christians - According to Mr. Rudolf Rukka, the total number of christians that should have been evacuated to Tual, was 764. However, those that were brought to the ship numbered only 729. So 35 people did not turn up. The absence of these 35 was explained as follows: 4 had already died, 14 had managed to escape to Ambon earlier, 5 had escaped to Tual, 6 are still at Kesui (for various reasons they did not want to board the ship), 6 had been taken by their muslim relatives to the island Gorong; among these there are five under the age of fifteen. Of these 729 people, 81 wished to be put ashore again at the village of Utha, for whatever reason. So the total number of evacuated persons from the island of Kesui is 648. Father Agus Ulahaiyanan telephoned us this morning that they had just arrived safely at Tual. 4. Islamisation? - Asked by reporters whether there had been forced islamisation on the island of Kesui and Teor, Governor M.Saleh Latuconsina declared on local TV last night that there had been no forced islamisation. These christians he said had chosen to become moslem in order to be protected, leaving unanswered the logical question to be protected against whom. 5. How further? - Another satisfactory result of this mission according to Rudolf Rukka was the general agreement, including the "rajas" of Kondor and Gorong, that there would be no attacks any more. Rukka also promised the christians that in due time he would bring the christians back to their ancestral homesteads. The local government chief ("Camat") was ordered to safeguard the grounds and any left behind possessions of christians meanwhile.  C.J.Böhm MSc, Secretary of Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina Received via e-mail from : Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina Copyright © 1999-2001  - Ambon Berdarah On-Line * http://www.go.to/ambon HTML pages designed and maintained by Alifuru67 * http://www.oocities.org/maluku67 Send your comments to alifuru67@egroups.com