Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), JRS Dispatches No. 113, 7 Jun 2002
Moluccan Islands, Indonesia: Confidence Building Measures
JRS in the Moluccan islands report on a novel approach to bringing together the
Muslim and Christian communities who have been driven apart by three years of
sectarian violence. On 20 May, JRS assisted in a sporting gesture between the two
communities who have been trying to come to terms with each other and live
peacefully together since the signing of a peace agreement last February. The
programme involved Muslim and Christian students watching a football match together
as well as a symbolic gesture known as ''sambung bola'' (connecting through a ball)
which requires the kicking of a football from a Muslim area to a Christian area and
back again. The fragile peace agreement reached between Muslim and Christian
leaders on the Moluccan Islands has been threatened recently by a number of violent
incidents. There are still extreme elements on the Islands who are intent on bringing
about the collapse of the peace process, though it is hoped that inter-community
programmes, such as the day of football, can build confidence and mutual trust
between the two erstwhile rival communities. The three-year conflict has had a
devastating affect upon the Moluccas, resulting in thousands of killings and the
displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
On 4 June JRS Moluccas reported that the capital city of Ambon is peaceful and calm
of late, without any gunshots or signs of violence. They also report that the IDPs living
on Buru Island are in urgent need of many items including medicine, school materials,
and nutritious food, all of which JRS is planning to provide. JRS's plan to build a
school in North Buru is still awaiting approval by the local authorities there.
JRS DISPATCHES is from the International Office of Jesuit Refugee Service, CP
6139, 00195 Roma Prati, Italy. Tel: +39-06 689.77.391; Fax: +39-06 687.92.83;
Email: dispatches@jesref.org; JRS on-line: http://www.jesref.org; Publisher: Lluís
Magriñà SJ; Editor: Hugh Delaney; Translation: Pablo Baron(Spanish), Edith Castel
(French), Centro Astalli/JRS Italy (Italian).
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