Sambas riots


The Sambas riots were an outbreak of inter-ethnic violence in Indonesia, in 1999. The conflict started in the district of Sambas, West Kalimantan Province. The conflict involved Malay allying with the indigenous Dayak people in order to massacre the migrant Madurese from the island of Madura.

Background

The Sambas riots in 1999 were not an isolated incident, as there had been previous incidents of violence between the Dayaks and the Madurese. The last major conflict occurred between December 1996 and January 1997, and resulted in more than 600 deaths. The Madurese first arrived in Borneo in 1930 under the transmigration program initiated by the Dutch colonial administration, and continued by the Indonesian government.

Massacres

and Dayaks joined together to massacre Madurese in Sambas district. Madurese were mutilated, raped, and killed by the Malays and Dayaks and 3,000 of them died in the massacres, with the Indonesian government doing little to stop the violence. Malays and Dayaks attacked Indonesian troops sent to stop the riots.

Further massacres

In 2001, Dayaks launched another massacre of several hundred Madurese in the Sampit conflict.