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| Buddhist-Muslim Tensions Spread as 8 Detainees Die in Indonesia | Buddhist-Muslim Tensions Spread as 8 Detainees Die in Indonesia |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| JAKARTA, Indonesia — Simmering religious and ethnic violence in Myanmar spread beyond that Southeast Asian country’s borders on Friday when a brawl broke out at an immigration center in Indonesia between Muslim and Buddhist detainees, leaving eight dead and 15 wounded, officials said. | |
| A group of 117 Rohingya refugees and 11 illegal fishermen from Myanmar were being held together in the same area of a government detention center in Belawan, a port city in North Sumatra Province, when fighting erupted in the morning, said Herianto, a spokesman for Indonesia’s Department of Immigration in Jakarta. | A group of 117 Rohingya refugees and 11 illegal fishermen from Myanmar were being held together in the same area of a government detention center in Belawan, a port city in North Sumatra Province, when fighting erupted in the morning, said Herianto, a spokesman for Indonesia’s Department of Immigration in Jakarta. |
| “There were eight fishermen killed; they are the Buddhists,” Mr. Herianto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said. “The injured detainees were Rohingya,” a Muslim ethnic group in Myanmar. | “There were eight fishermen killed; they are the Buddhists,” Mr. Herianto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said. “The injured detainees were Rohingya,” a Muslim ethnic group in Myanmar. |
| The disturbance erupted around 12:45 a.m., with the detainees using metal and wood from broken chairs to attack one another, according to Sabarita Ginting, an immigration office spokeswoman in Medan. The police subdued it by midmorning, Indonesia’s Metro TV and detik.com news portal reported. The injured were taken to a hospital in the provincial capital Medan, about 14 miles west of Belawan. | |
| The Associated Press, citing the local police, reported that the clash began after a Muslim Rohingya confronted a Buddhist fisherman about sectarian violence back home in Myanmar. | The Associated Press, citing the local police, reported that the clash began after a Muslim Rohingya confronted a Buddhist fisherman about sectarian violence back home in Myanmar. |
| Vivian Tan, a regional spokeswoman with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Bangkok, said the detention center’s detainees are usually a mix of foreign asylum seekers, refugees like the Rohingya and people picked up for illegal entry, like the Buddhist fishermen. | |
| The United Nations refugees office released a statement Friday afternoon calling for calm among the groups, and urged Indonesian authorities to act to prevent further violence, including moving detainees into community housing as soon as possible. | |
| The brawl in the detention center underscores the tensions and deep animosity between Muslims and Buddhists that have surfaced in Myanmar as the country tries to embrace democracy after five decades of military rule. | The brawl in the detention center underscores the tensions and deep animosity between Muslims and Buddhists that have surfaced in Myanmar as the country tries to embrace democracy after five decades of military rule. |
| Regional officials expressed concern that violence within Myanmar could spill over to its Southeast Asian neighbors. At a joint two-day workshop in Jakarta on Friday on conflict prevention and preventive diplomacy, Vijay Nambiar of India, a United Nations undersecretary general and special adviser on Myanmar to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, told reporters that the Buddhist-Muslim tensions need to be controlled for regional security. | |
| “All the governments are conscious that they can’t afford to let this kind of genie get out of the bottle,” he said. “And here, as the largest population of Muslims in the world, Indonesia is particularly sensitive about these implications.” | “All the governments are conscious that they can’t afford to let this kind of genie get out of the bottle,” he said. “And here, as the largest population of Muslims in the world, Indonesia is particularly sensitive about these implications.” |
| Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia told the workshop that it was difficult to distinguish whether a security challenge in one nation was also a regional one. | Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia told the workshop that it was difficult to distinguish whether a security challenge in one nation was also a regional one. |
| “Very rapidly, any conditions that are unstable even within countries can become at least a nontraditional type of security threat to the rest of the region,” he said. “This applies to all of us, basically.” | “Very rapidly, any conditions that are unstable even within countries can become at least a nontraditional type of security threat to the rest of the region,” he said. “This applies to all of us, basically.” |
| The government of Myanmar said it would be seeking more information as to how the deaths occurred. “I am not clear why the Indonesian authorities put those groups in the same place during this tense period,” said U Zaw Htay, a director with President U Thein Sein’s office. He was referring to Buddhist and Muslims. | |
| Tensions remain high in Yangon and other Myanmar cities, with Muslims on alert for attacks after the recent rioting in the central city of Meiktila that killed more than 40 people, most of them Muslims. | |
| Since the attacks in Meiktila, which began March 20 and in some cases were led by Buddhist monks, rioting spread to other parts of Myanmar, leaving mosques and hundreds of Muslims’ homes destroyed. | Since the attacks in Meiktila, which began March 20 and in some cases were led by Buddhist monks, rioting spread to other parts of Myanmar, leaving mosques and hundreds of Muslims’ homes destroyed. |
| A fire in the dormitory of a Muslim school earlier this week in Yangon that left 13 dead was blamed on a faulty electrical device but nonetheless heightened fears among the Muslim community. | A fire in the dormitory of a Muslim school earlier this week in Yangon that left 13 dead was blamed on a faulty electrical device but nonetheless heightened fears among the Muslim community. |
| Muslim organizations and human rights groups have criticized Myanmar’s handling of religious and ethnic violence during the past year, including violence in western Myanmar that killed more than 150 people and displaced more than 100,000 people, mainly Muslims. | Muslim organizations and human rights groups have criticized Myanmar’s handling of religious and ethnic violence during the past year, including violence in western Myanmar that killed more than 150 people and displaced more than 100,000 people, mainly Muslims. |
| The government has said the violence in Rakhine State, near the border with Bangladesh, was organized by unidentified groups seeking to stir up religious hatred but has yet to arrest any of the leaders of the attacks. | |
| The majority of those displaced are Rohingya who have been unable to return to their villages and remain in squalid refugee camps. Not recognized as citizens in Myanmar, thousands of Rohingya have fled by boat to neighboring countries, mainly Malaysia and Indonesia, both Muslim-majority countries. Thousands more have been taken in by Saudi Arabia in recent years. | |
Joe Cochrane reported from | Joe Cochrane reported from Jakarta, and Thomas Fuller from Bangkok. Wai Moe contributed reporting from Yangon, Myanmar. |