Ambon City

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Ambon City (1990 pop. 275,888) is the main city and seaport of Ambon Island, and is the capital of Maluku province of Indonesia. It is one of the largest cities in eastern Indonesia. The city was the site of some of the worst violence between Christian and Muslim groups that gripped the Maluku archipelago between 1999 and 2002.

Ambon City has an airport, and was home to the Pattimura University, a state university, and the Indonesian Christian University of Maluku (UKIM), a private Protestant university, though both were seriously damaged during the violence in 2000-2002.

1 History
2 Religious riots
3 References
4 External links

Ambon was colonized by Portugal in 1526. The Portuguese were driven out by the Dutch in 1609. Except for brief periods of British rule, the island remained under Dutch control until Indonesia's independence in 1945.

During the Dutch period, Ambon City was the seat of the Dutch resident and military commander of the Moluccas. The town was protected by Fort Victoria, and a 1911 encyclopedia characterized it as "a clean little town with wide streets, well planted". The population was divided into two classes: orang burger or citizens, and orang negri or villagers, the former being a class of native origin enjoying certain privileges conferred on their ancestors by the old Dutch East India Company. There were also, besides the Dutch, some Arabs, Chinese and a few Portuguese settlers.

Ambon City was the site of a major Dutch naval base, captured by the Japanese in 1942. Ambon was a center of Christian missionary activity, and Ambon and the surrounding islands have many Christians as well as the Muslims that predominate in most of Indonesia.

In 1950, Ambon City was the center of an uprising against Indonesian rule, caused by the rebellion of Republic of the South Moluccas. Indonesia reasserted control just in few weeks.

Inter-communal violence between Christians and Muslims ignited in January 1999 after a fight between a Christian bus driver and a Muslim youth broke out on January 19th. Parts of Ambon City were destroyed, including parts of Pattimura University. Violence escalated as the army brought in bombs and weapons. Although there had been no serious incidents prior to 1999, tensions had been simmering and relations between Christians and Muslims were very poor.

The problems were exacerbated by the inability of police and army to keep control. With endemic corruption, sectarian splits and mistrust of people of the other religion, police were joining in the violence, taking sides according to religion and, implicitly, the area they came from as well.

Each side claimed bias in the police and armed forces. The local, mainly Christian, police, were seen as anti-Muslim by Muslims, while the Indonesian army, many of whom were from Jawa and Ujung Pandang (in Sulawesi, home of the Buginese, the ethnicity of most Muslims in Ambon) were seen by Christians as favouring Muslims.

Fighting has erupted sporadically since 1999, and many Ambonese were been displaced by the violence. The violence decreased in late 2002, and, aside from a spate of bombings in April 2004, as of January 2005, the city is relatively peaceful. The Islamic group Laskar Jihad, which drew members from Java was involved in some of the violence, but disbanded itself in October 2002.

Sectarian divides mean that outsiders are discouraged from visiting the area, and the city of Ambon is still partially segregated along religious lines. However, since the peace accord, people from both faiths have seen increasing interaction through trade. Multi-faith schools are re-appearing.