Sambas riots

The Sambas riots were an outbreak of inter-ethnic violence in Indonesia, in 1999 in the regency of Sambas, West Kalimantan Province and involved the Madurese on one side and an alliance of the indigenous Dayak people and Sambas Malays on the other. The Madurese and Dayak were inspired by their respective traditions of violence: carok for the Madurese and ngayau or headhunting for the Dayak. The Dayak attempt to settle disputes first by means of a peaceful agreement and only practice "ngayau" when they are violently attacked, while the Madurese practice "carok" as a first measure. In this case, the Madurese aggressively murdered some Dayak by using a sickle (celurit), so the Dayak responded out of self-defense. As for the Malays, they do not have a tradition of violence but allied with the Dayak due to harassment of the migrant Madurese over the course of many decades.