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| The emergence of Indonesia |
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| Reformasi era (1998–present) |
Sectarian conflict in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia between 1999 and 2002 killed thousands of people and displaced over 1/2 million.
In the late 1990s, Indonesia was experiencing the devastating economic and political effects of the East Asian Financial Crisis which affected Indonesia more than any other country. The army, formerly at the centre of the political system under the recently resigned Suharto, was disaffected with the democratisation process. Citizens and the media were confident in speaking their minds after three decades of restrictions under Suharto's New Order administration. In 1999, the Christmas and Idul Fitri celebrations coincided. The 1999 vote in East Timor to secede from the Indonesian republic gave inspiration to RMS (Republic of South Maluku) agitators. Further, plans were in place to split the single province of Maluku into two separate provinces (see Maluku and North Maluku) with each given additional powers. Particularly in Ambon where the Christian-Muslim ratio was evenly balanced, each religious community could see the advantage of scaring away the other.
A January 1999 dispute between a Christian bus driver and Muslim youth descended into inter-communal riots. Many islands suffered disturbances with villagers killed, and buildings were torched. In Ambon and Tobelo, Muslims were widely perceived as the initial victims, and the Laskar Jihad Islamist militia came to Maluku to "protect" local Muslims. Their "Holy War" degenerated into revenge attacks on Christian communities, thereby exacerbating the ongoing violence,[1] and giving Muslims the upper hand in the conflict.[2]
In the following two years, an estimated 9,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands had to flee their towns.[3] Much of Ambon City was destroyed, as were many villages across the Maluku Islands. Some regions, including Ambon City, became segregated into distinct Muslim and Christian zones. In February 2002, the Malino II Accord was signed, calling for mutual respect and disarmament. Conditions improved with Laksar Jihad's decisions to disband and leave Ambon later that year.
The plan to split the province into two was implemented in late 1999. The new province of North Maluku incorporates the area between Morotai and Sula and its capital is Ternate. It is predominantly Muslim, although it has Christian enclaves including in northern Halmahera. Maluku Province includes the arc from Buru and Seram to Wetar with its capital in Ambon.
Theories as to the cause of the violence includes the influence of outside forces, including one theory that supporters of Suharto within the armed forces may have been responsible.
Violence erupted again on September 11, 2011 after a false message was spread among Muslims. The false message claimed that a Muslim driver of a motorcycle-taxi had been tortured to death by a group of Christians.[4]