| Sambas riots | |
| Partof: | post-Suharto era |
| Date: | 1999 |
| Place: | Sambas Regency, West Kalimantan, Indonesia |
| Side1: | Malay rioters Dayak rioters |
| Side2: | Madurese rioters |
| Side3: | TNI POLRI |
| Casualties2: | 3000 dead |
The Sambas riots were an outbreak of inter-ethnic violence in Indonesia, in 1999 in the regency of Sambas, West Kalimantan Province and involved the Madurese on one side and an alliance of the indigenous Dayak people and Sambas Malays on the other. The Madurese and Dayak were inspired by their respective traditions of violence: "carok" for the Madurese and "ngayau" for the Dayak. The Dayak attempt to settle disputes first by means of a peaceful agreement and only practice "ngayau" when they are violently attacked, while the Madurese practice "carok" as a first measure. In this case, the Madurese aggressively murdered some Dayak by using a sickle (celurit), so the Dayak responded out of self-defense. As Malays, the Sambas do not have a tradition of violence but allied with the Dayak due harassment of the migrant Madurese over the course of many decades.
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.[1] The Madurese first arrived in Borneo in 1930 under the transmigration program initiated by the Dutch colonial administration, and continued by the Indonesian government.[2]
After the Madurese massacred the Sambas Malays in Parit Setia while exiting the local mosque after performing the Muslim Aid al-Adha prayer, the Sambas Malays lost all patience with the harassment and murdering on the part of the Madurese. They thus joined forces with the Dayaks to resist the attacks of the Madurese in the Sambas district.[3] Up to 3,000 Madurese were killed, and the Indonesian government did little to stop the violence. Some of the Indonesian soldiers that were sent to quell the riots were attacked by the Sambas Malays and Dayaks due to their support for the Madurese.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
In 2001, another conflict broke out between the Madurese and Dayak that resulted in hundreds of deaths. It became known as the Sampit conflict.