A ship carrying three International Medical Corps relief workers and more than 6,000 Madurese men, women and children was a floating testimony to the misery and horror that are overwhelming this region of Indonesia. Disease, malnutrition and poor sanitation are contributing to the desperate situation that began last month when tensions between Dayak tribesmen and Madurese settlers exploded into ethnic violence marked by beheadings and other atrocities.
Andrew Duncan, International Medical Corps’ regional representative in Indonesia, was on the ship that was licensed to carry only 1,000 passengers. The voyage, which left last Wednesday from Sampit bound for the Indonesian island of Madura, took 25 hours.
“It was so crowded that there was absolutely no room for anyone to even lie down,” Duncan reported. “We attended two births and treated dozens of patients for malaria, skin infections, respiratory infections, and diarrhea.”
International Medical Corps is one of the few humanitarian agencies providing emergency medical care in the district of Central Kalimantan on Borneo. Displaced Madurese remaining in area — approximately 3,000 to 7,000 — are severely traumatized. On Monday, Dayak tribesmen announced they would “celebrate the expulsion of the settlers” by displaying severed heads on stakes in the central park, Duncan said. The actual death toll remained unclear today, but reports estimate the number to range from 450 to more than several thousand.
“Many of the patients we are treating are suffering from psychological trauma more than anything else,” he said. “Children are listless and refuse to eat or speak. Everyone is in a state of shock.”
A second International Medical Corps Rapid Response team accompanied 3,200 displaced Madurese on a ship that arrived today in Madura. Conditions on that ship were equally dismal, Duncan said.
Duncan is available for phone interviews today, March 7, and Friday, March 8 in Surabaya, which is 18 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time. After Saturday, he will be in Jakarta. Please call Jennifer Rowland at (310) 826-7800 or (323) 340-8024 to make arrangements.
Founded in 1984, International Medical Corps is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing emergency medical relief and long-term training to local populations where war, civil strife and other crises have crippled health care systems. International Medical Corps has served in 35 countries in four continents. In addition to Indonesia, other current programs include those in Sierra Leone, Ingushetia, Kosovo, Burundi, and Pakistan.