History
Sampit town became known worldwide following inter-ethnic violent communal clashes between the Dayaks and the Madurese during the Sampit conflict which broke out on February 17, 2001 and lasted for 10 days. There are a number of stories purportedly describing the incident that sparked the violence in 2001. One version claims that it was caused by an arson attack on a Dayak house. Rumours spread that the fire was caused by Madurese, and later a group of Dayaks began burning houses in a Madurese neighbourhood. Another version says that the massacre was triggered by an earlier incident in December 2000 when a Dayak man was killed by three Madurese.
In just two weeks 469 were reported to have been killed, of which 456 of them were Madurese. Virtually the entire Madurese people fled and "ethnic cleansing" has taken place in Sampit and surrounding areas, despite the Madurese previously forming about 60% of the population. However, according to a BBC report, the overall picture of the conflict caused 500 deaths, with over 100,000 Madurese displaced from their homes. Many Madurese were also found decapitated by the Dayaks. Several hundreds of the immigrants fled from the area and moved by naval vessels to their homes in Madura island in East Java.
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