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SBY urged to do 'homework' on religious minorities
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been told to pay more attention to providing justice for religious minorities, following the forced eviction of Shiites from a sports complex in Sampang, Madura
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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been told to pay more attentionto providing justice for religious minorities, following the forced evictionof Shiites from a sports complex in Sampang, Madura.
'The President still has much homework to do in terms of protecting religious minorities,' former army chief of staff Gen. (ret) Tyasno Sudarto said as quoted by kompas.com on Friday.
The evicted Shiites were now in a low-cost apartment in Sidoarjo, East Java. They were forced to leave their temporary shelter at the Sampang sports center, in which they have been living for a year since their village was vandalized and burned to the ground by group of hard-liners.
It was reported that the local authorities had bowed to pressure from some individuals in the majority Sunni community who demanded that the internally displaced persons (IDPs) leave the area.
The eviction took place less than a month after Yudhoyono received an international award in recognition of his work in promoting pluralism and human rights. The decision of the president to receive the award sparked criticism from human rights activists.
'It is the right of the giver to give an award, but it is expected that the award will motivate the president to protect the minorities,' Tyasno said. (hrl/dic)
