Death toll rises in Indonesia, refugees flee

SAMPIT, Indonesia -- Thousands are fleeing ethnic clashes on the Indonesian part of Borneo after at least 140 people have been killed.

A navy landing craft and two transport ships were speeding to the river port at Sampit to pick up refugees from the fighting between native Dayak people and immigrants from Madura Island, officials said. The vessels, due Friday night, can accommodate 7,000 people.

The refugees, mostly Madurese and other non-native groups, were to be evacuated to the port of Surabaya on Java Island, officials said. Other refugees were heading overland to other parts of the province.

Headless corpses

In Sampit, the bodies of about 30 adults and children lay outside the hospital in a bloody heap. Some of the corpses were headless.

Komaruddin Sukhemi, a doctor at the hospital, said 165 people had been confirmed dead. Officials said the death toll was likely to rise.

Many houses blazed and trucks full of armed Dayaks patrolled the streets. Gangs armed with machetes and daggers have paraded the severed heads of Madurese victims.

Security reinforcements called in

Two joint police and military battalions were going in to reinforce overwhelmed local security forces in the town, about 800 kilometers (480 miles) northeast of Jakarta.

"The situation is getting worse," said regional police chief Brig. Gen. Bambang Pranoto. "The riots are spreading to other towns where there are still many Madurese."

Over the past 40 years, tens of thousands of people, mostly Madurese, have resettled in Central Kalimantan province. The government program that brought them here was designed to relieve overcrowding in other areas, but has sparked resentment among the Dayak natives.

This week's killings on Borneo, shared between Indonesia and Malaysia, began Sunday. They are the latest in a series of bloody outbreaks. In the past several years, hundreds have died in clashes, most sparked by land disputes between the Dayaks and the settlers.

Economic implications

The World Bank said on Friday that Indonesia could be headed for an economic collapse unless the government stops rampant violence and restores political stability.

"Regional unrest, and political and ethnic tensions threaten national unity," the bank said in a statement.

For decades, dictator Suharto used his security forces to crush public unrest, keeping the lid on tensions between Indonesia's many ethnic and religious groups. But since his ouster in 1998, violence has flared throughout the archipelago. Suharto, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

Upsurge of violence throughout Indonesia

Efforts by the new democratic government to resolve the multiple crises have largely failed.

Thousands have been killed in fighting between troops and separatist rebels in Aceh province and between Christians and Muslims in the Maluku Islands.

In Irian Jaya, an upsurge of violence has claimed dozens of lives since December, when separatists hoisted independence flags. In addition, dozens have died in unexplained terrorist bombings in several major cities.

On Thursday, embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid left Indonesia for a 14-day trip to the Middle East and Africa, saying he was unconcerned about leaving amid the renewed violence.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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