Muslims and Buddhists Brawl With Knives

Muslims and Buddhists Brawl With Knives and Rocks in Indonesia


http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/05/muslims-and-buddhists-brawl-with-knives-and-rocks-in-indonesia/

Apr. 5, 2013 9:17am
Billy Hallowell





Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic images.

BELAWAN, Indonesia (AP) — Religious and
ethnic tensions running high in Myanmar boiled over far outside the
country’s borders Friday, when Buddhist fishermen and Muslim asylum
seekers from the country brawled with knives and rocks at an Indonesian
immigration detention center, leaving eight dead and another 15 injured.

The melee broke out in North Sumatra
province, where more than 100 Rohingya migrants — most intercepted off
Indonesia’s coast after fleeing their homeland in rickety boats — and 11
Buddhists accused of illegal fishing were being housed together, said
local police chief Endro Kiswanto.

Indonesian
police officers carry the body of an illegal migrant from Myanmar upon
arrival at a hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia Friday, April
5, 2013. Police said a violent brawl between Buddhist and Muslim asylum
seekers from Mynamar in an immigration detention center in Belawan of
North Sumatra early Friday leaving eight dead and 15 injured. (AP
Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

He said witnesses told police the clash
started early Friday after a Rohingya Muslim cleric and a fisherman got
into a heated debate about sectarian violence that erupted last month
in central Myanmar when mobs of armed Buddhists torched Muslim-owned
homes and shops, killing dozens and forcing thousands to flee.

Insults were traded, and the cleric was
allegedly attacked by a fisherman, said Yusuf Umardani, the detention
center chief. When the cleric screamed, his friends jumped in to help.
From there, the rumble broke out so quickly, security guards were too
late to stop it.
“The violence took place so fast, and
it was completely unexpected because they had been living peacefully
here so far,” Umardani said. “Most of the dead victims suffered severe
head injuries. Apparently, they fought using anything that they could
get — rocks, wood, chairs and knives.”

Eight Buddhists were killed, and 15 Rohingya were injured. Three other Buddhists escaped unharmed, Kiswanto said.

“Our friends were covered in blood,”
surviving fisherman Win Thike Oo told an Associated Press photographer
at the scene. “If we were there at the time, we would also be dead.”

Indonesian
police officers carry the body of an illegal migrant from Myanmar upon
arrival at a hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia Friday, April
5, 2013. Police said a violent brawl between Buddhist and Muslim asylum
seekers from Mynamar in an immigration detention center in Belawan of
North Sumatra early Friday leaving eight dead and 15 injured. (AP
Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

About 280 people are crammed into the
overcrowded detention center — more than double its capacity. It is
filled with a mix of mostly asylum seekers from different countries
including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and elsewhere.

Boatloads of Rohingya have been
washing up on Indonesia’s shores following a wave of violence last year
in western Myanmar, where they are considered illegal Muslim settlers
from neighboring Bangladesh. Hundreds have been killed and more than
100,000 left homeless in clashes between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and
Rohingya.

The tensions have tested Myanmar’s
fledgling reformist government as it attempts to institute political and
economic liberalization after nearly half a century of military rule.

“We actually don’t understand about
what is happening in my country,” said survivor Oo, who has been
detained for nine months at the center after being nabbed for illegal
fishing in Indonesian waters. “We are only fishermen. We don’t care
about politics or conflict.”

All of the victims from the detention
center were rushed to a hospital in the provincial capital, Medan, about
23 kilometers (14 miles) south of the port town of Belawan. The three
surviving fishermen have been moved to a separate building and hundreds
of police have been deployed to secure the center. A forensics team was
working to collect evidence and surveillance recordings were being
reviewed.

Photo Credit: AP

The UN Refugee Agency issued a statement saying it was saddened by news of the deaths.

“UNHCR is calling for calm among the
groups and urging the Indonesian authorities to take action to prevent
further violence, including moving individuals into community housing as
soon as possible,” it said.

Kiswanto said 25 Rohingya were being
questioned by police and would be prosecuted under Indonesian law if
suspected of being involved in the killings.

Maj. Zaw Htay, the director of the
president’s office in Myanmar, said the country’s embassy in Jakarta has
urged Indonesian authorities to investigate and punish those involved.

The muslims just want world power,then we and all would really be in rough spot.