Sampit, Indonesia — Thousands of Madurese refugees huddled under plastic sheeting Wednesday, waiting to flee a deadly rampage by Dayaks whose campaign to drive them from parts of Borneo has been largely successful.
With most Madurese settlers in Central Kalimantan province either gone or waiting to go, Indonesians began asking whether their government's weak response might spur similar violence elsewhere.
"Whoever wants to create trouble now knows that they can and will get away with it," political analyst Dede Oetomo said.
After 11 days of what critics called a woefully inadequate response to the Dayak rampage that killed at least 469 people, Indonesian security forces patrolled Borneo island Wednesday with orders to shoot rioters on sight.
"We are now taking tougher action against rioters and other troublemakers," regional deputy police chief Col. Muhamad Jatmiko said.
Police said they confiscated hundreds of machetes, spears and other homemade weapons, and arrested about 125 people.
In Sampit, where many of the killings occurred, constant rain added to the misery of the estimated 25,000 refugees living under plastic sheeting in the partly flooded grounds of a police station.
"We have lost everything," said Samsudin Asam, a refugee. "We are now just waiting to die."
Health workers said at least six refugees had died since the crisis began. Diarrhea is spreading, especially among children. The Indonesian Red Cross said it had sent supplies of medicine and blood to Sampit.
Made up of hundreds of different ethnic groups scattered across 13,000 islands, Indonesia has a long history of tribal warfare.
The unrest was quelled by force under the 32-year dictatorship of former President Suharto that ended in 1998. Borneo is one of many trouble spots across Indonesia; some fear that impunity for the Dayaks could encourage violent groups in Maluku, Irian Jaya or Aceh sites of past separatist, religious or sectarian unrest.
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