Returning Home After Being Expelled In 2012, Then Ex-Shia Followers In Sampang, Madura, Received Housing Assistance

Sampang Regent Slamet Junaidi while attending a discussion on the scenario for the return of former Shia followers (ANTARA)

SURABAYA - The Sampang Regency Government, East Java, helped build houses for former followers of Islam, Shia, who wanted to return to their hometowns, Karang Gayam Village and Karang Penang Village, Sampang.

According to Sampang Regent Slamet Junaidi, this was done because the conflict between Shia and Sunnis had ended peacefully, after all Shia followers took oath of allegiance again in November 2020.

"The scholars in Sampang are ready to accept the former Shia followers to return to their hometowns, so we, as the government, must facilitate," he said in Sampang, Antara, Saturday, January 8.

The housing construction assistance for victims of social conflict was also at the suggestion of the NU Sampang Institute for Human Resource Studies and Development (Lakpesdam) through the assistance program for the construction of uninhabitable houses (RTLH).

"We really recommend that the district government help build houses for the former Shia followers who want to return to their hometowns," said the head of Lakpesdam NU Sampang, Faisol Ramdhani.

In addition to assisting in the construction of houses, the government also assisted in the land certification program for the victims of the conflict.

A total of 239 Sampang residents who were victims of the SARA nuanced conflict received land certificates which were handed over directly by the Governor of East Java in conjunction with the commemoration of Human Rights Day on December 14, 2020.

Meanwhile, there are 26 former followers of Shia Islam who are planning to return to Sampang in the near future, even as many as 4 heads of families have built houses in Blu'uran Village, Omben and 2 heads in Karanggayam Village, Karang Penang District. family.

The SARA nuanced conflict between Shia and Sunni in Sampang, Madura, East Java occurred in 2012 until the victims were finally evacuated to Rusunawa, Jemondo, Sidoarjo, East Java.

The Shia community of Sampang was expelled from their hometown in Karang Gayam Village, Omben District and Blu`uran Village, Karang Penang District, Sampang by a group of anti-Shia mobs, because they had different views with the majority of Muslims in the area.

Before being evacuated to Sidoarja, the victim of the attack by the anti-Shia group was first evacuated by the Sampang Regency Government to the Wijaya Kusuma Sports Building (GOR). At the insistence of the majority group, on June 20, 2013, this Shia Muslim group was finally moved to Rusunawa, Jemondo, Sidoarjo, East Java.

The Sampang Regency Government previously stated that the evacuation of minority Islamic groups in Sampang to Sidoarjo was only temporary, but until now they are still living in refugee camps.

At that time, the total number of displaced Shiites was 338 people, consisting of 81 families.