Christian church in Kao

North Maluku, Indonesia

Fuji S2 digital, Nikon 12-24

The majority of the population in Kao (and Tobelo) are Christians, but there are substnatial Muslim minorities. In 1999-2000, this area was the site of serious violence between Christians and Muslims, which began with a dispute over land occupied earlier by Makians, who had been relocated to Halmahera over 1975-1980 from their island south of Ternate when its volcano became active.

The violence ultimately cost 3,000 lives and resulted in the destruction of over 20,000 houses and places of worship and the displacement of over 250,000 persons, many of whom have returned in the past 12 months.

The main reason for my trip to this area was to find out whether the returning refugees had been able to register to vote in the 2004 legislative and presidential elections.