Minister calls for aid for Moluccas

An Irish missionary has said the conflict on Indonesia's Moluccan islands is now "a humanitarian disaster greater than Kosovo". The Presbyterian minister, the Rev Prof James Haire, was highlighting the need for more humanitarian aid in the islands and the possible introduction of a peacekeeping force.

Prof Haire, who has been serving in the Moluccas until recently, was this week installed as president of the Uniting Church in Australia. He said that in the Moluccas "there are people dying, not just from the violence, but from exposure in the jungles. Thousands of women are giving birth in the jungles where they are in hiding". Moluccan church leaders visited Brussels and London this week to appeal for urgent assistance in the deepening crisis. It is estimated more than 4,000 people have now been killed and 350,000 displaced from their homes as Muslim extremists wage a Jihad, or holy war, against Christians there. "If the international community does not take immediate action, then the tragic conflict in the Moluccas will result in the complete destruction of the peaceful Christian and Muslim communities here," said a spokesman for the delegation. Even as the Moluccan delegation was meeting British and European officials, reports were coming in of new attacks on the Christian population, with more than 100 homes being burned.

The situation has deteriorated rapidly, despite the imposition of a state of civil emergency and, said a spokesman for the church leaders, "the [Indonesian] government appears unable to stop the violence and guarantee, the safety and security of the Christian community in particular". In a letter to the EU presidency, the church leaders said the authorities had done little to prevent the conflict.

"This conflict did not originate in the Moluccas. It was brought to us by provocateurs acting on behalf of extremist elements in Indonesia. "There are an estimated 7,000 jihad warriors converging on Moluccas. These Muslim militants have attacked Christian villages and town districts with little or no interference from the armed forces. On the contrary, elements of the armed forces have actively participated in the attacks as evidenced in the June massacre in Duma village in which 156 Christians were killed," they said.

Though supportive of President Wahid of Indonesia, the church leaders have questioned the ability of the government to end the conflict. They have called on the EU to send a delegation to investigate the situation and have asked the Indonesian government to take the strongest possible measures to ensure the jihad militants are removed. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has continued to make representations on the issue to the British and Irish governments and to the UN, through the Human Rights Commissioner, Mrs Mary Robinson.