People are evacuated to a military camp in Wamena city of Indonesia's Papua province (Photo: AFP/VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Thousands of residents in Indonesia's Papua scrambled to board militaryplanes on September 27, fleeing urban unrest after one of the region'sdeadliest eruptions of violence in years.
Anger over racism againstindigenous Papuans by residents from other parts of Indonesia has fuelled weeksof angry protests in the impoverished region, as well as fresh calls forself-rule, AFP reported.
Violence broke outagain this week in Wamena city where over 20 people were killed.
Authorities saidthat some were burned alive when buildings were set on fire, while others werestabbed during the chaos.
Around 6,000soldiers and policemen were sent to Papua and West Papua to stabilise thesituation.
Some 700 Wamenaresidents, mostly migrants from other parts of the country, were evacuated toother parts of the country, the military said.
Up to 1,500 otherresidents gathered at a local airport on September 27 in a bid to leave, while atleast 2,500 people had registered to get aboard flights.
A low-levelseparatist insurgency has simmered for decades in the former Dutch colony afterJakarta took over Papua in the 1960s.
A UN-sponsored voteto stay within the archipelago in 1969 was widely viewed as rigged, but Jakartahas long refused to consider another referendum./.
VNA
