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Sat, 03/14/2009 1:46 PM

West Lombok forbids Ahmadiyah refugees from returning home

West Lombok regency has decided to forbid members of the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect, who have been living uncertainly at a refugee center in West Nusa Tenggara for three years, to return to their homes, citing security concerns.

Basirun Anwat, spokesman of the regency, told tempointeraktif.com Saturday that the decision was made during a meeting attended by the regency secretary, the local leaders forum and sect members on Thursday.

“To ensure security, they are not allowed to go home,” he said.

Basirun also said that Ahmadiyah members were still allowed to work on their farms and that the regency was going to discuss buying their land so they could move elsewhere.

Last month, 68 Ahmadiyah members from 17 families decided to risk going from the Transito building in Mataram back to their homes in Ketapang hamlet, Gegerung village, Lingsar district, West Lombok regency, on March 14.

At least 160 Ahmadiyah members from 33 families were driven from their homes when hard-line Muslims attacked them and destroyed their homes and belongings in early February 2006.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) previously issued an edict calling the Ahmadiyah heretical. The edict was seized upon by other hard-line Muslims to attack the sect’s followers elsewhere, including in West Java. (dre)

Source:   www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/14/ west-lombok-forbids-ahmadiyah-refugees-returning-home.html