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The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is appealing to United Nations Human Rights Commisioner Mary Robinson and both the British and Irish Governments to exert whatever pressure they can on the Indonesian Government to immediately act to restore order in the Maluku Islands.
This call comes amid reliable reports reaching Belfast directly from the Eastern Indonesian archipelago that up to 5,000 people have been killed and thousands more displaced in renewed violence between Christian and Muslim communities over the last few weeks.
In early December approx 10,000 - 14,000 Christians were forced to flee Ternate, one of several densely populated islands among the hundreds that make up the Malukus, as their churches and homes were burned. Since Christmas around 300 people have been killed in the provincial capital of Ambon, and a further 200 on the island of Buru. In continuing violence in the last few days on nearby Halmahera, 225 people died and again Christian churches and property were destroyed. Islamic fundamentalists are prepared to pay £10,000 for the death of a Christian minister, £8,000 for an elder according to latest reports from some areas.
There has been sporadic violence throughout the Malukus, situated in Eastern Indonesia and formerly known as the Spice Islands, since January of last year with an estimated 1000 people killed and tens of thousands displaced from their homes, prior to recent oubreaks of violence.
'Christians and Muslims are in serious conflict with one another with sections of the Indonesian Army supporting Muslim gangs who are shooting Christians dead, ' says Rev Terry McMullan, executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church's Overseas Board. 'The issues are complex and the implications horrific.'
'The Uniting Church in Australia, our main source of information, is in daily contact with our partner churches in the Maluku Islands. Christians are terrified and they fear for their lives as the military take control. The military is either turning a blind eye to Muslim extremists or are actually supporting them. Christians believe there is an agenda to drive Christianity out of the Maluku Islands. In many ways this has been realised with Christian communities already fleeing from the islands of Ternate, Tidore, Buru and other areas.'
The Presbyterian Church is responding to calls from Christian leaders in the Malukus pleading for help. Among them is the Moderator of the Halmahera Church, Rev Agustinus Aesh, who recently escaped with his life from Tobelo, the capital of Halmahera, and is at present in Jakarta urgently seeking meetings with government and foreign officials to plead the case of his people and focus world attention on the genocide that is taking place in the Malukus. He is concerned for his life in the Indonesian capital and is seeking diplomatic cover in foreign embassies.
Issued by Martin McNeely, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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