Migrants killed in Suriname rampage

(UKPA) – 28 dec 2009

At least seven foreigners have been killed and hundreds more made homeless after rioting and attacks against migrant workers in Suriname left a border town in ashes, a priest said.

The Rev Jose Vergilio, who is assisting victims, said the riots in the town of Albina, which began late on Thursday after a Brazilian allegedly stabbed a local man to death, had made the area uninhabitable for an estimated 300 people who fled.

Police have only confirmed one death without providing details, but Brazilian Mr Vergilio’s account suggested a higher toll, although the nationality of the dead migrants was unclear.

Authorities say at least 20 Brazilian women were raped in the tumult and all Brazilians and many Chinese living in the area were evacuated.

Mr Vergilio said more than 90 refugees, including several children, were currently living in a hotel in the capital Paramaribo. At least 120 people took refuge at a military compound on Saturday before being transferred to the capital.

« They cannot go back to that place, there is so much confusion. They have nowhere to work or to live, » Mr Vergilio said.

Police say 20 people including a local government official were in custody on charges including rape, theft and arson.

Brazil’s foreign ministry is sending two representatives to Suriname to assess the situation and Suriname officials said the military and police would step up patrols in Albina.

Mr Vergilio, a Roman Catholic priest who has lived in the tiny South American nation for eight years, said the unrest was only the latest violence between people in Suriname and a growing community of Brazilian workers who cross the country’s southern border to work for companies prospecting for gold.

« This has roots in older problems – economic conflicts and conflicts over nationality, » he said.

Muerte de hombre deriva en disturbios y violaciones en Surinam

u.univision.com

26 de Diciembre de 2009

PARAMARIBO (AP) – Al menos 20 mujeres fueron violadas y más de 120 trabajadores extranjeros debieron ser evacuados, luego que estallaron disturbios en Surinam, dijo el sábado un alto funcionario.

La violencia comenzó el jueves por la noche y se agravó el viernes, después de que un ciudadano brasileño mató a un lugareño en el poblado fronterizo de Albina, dijo el ministro de Justicia y Policía, Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

Más de 120 brasileños y chinos agredidos en los disturbios fueron trasladados a un complejo militar para garantizar su seguridad. Serán transferidos a Paramaribo, la capital, señaló el funcionario.

Los manifestantes comenzaron a atacar a los brasileños que residen en Albina, aproximadamente una hora después del asesinato del marún, descendiente de esclavos africanos prófugos, dijeron las autoridades.

Se desconoce por qué los manifestantes agredieron a comerciantes chinos, quemando varias casas y saqueando negocios.

Una persona murió y una decena resultaron lesionadas. Algunas fueron llevadas a la vecina Guyana Francesa, para recibir atención, dijo Santokhi.

El supuesto asesino del marún es uno de los cuatro detenidos, añadió la fuente, la cual precisó que las mujeres violadas son brasileñas.

El coronel del Ejército nacional, Ernst Mercuur, visitó el viernes Albina y dijo que los soldados han terminado con los disturbios.

Riot on Christmas rocks Suriname border town

PARAMARIBO (Reuters) – Police and troops on Christmas Day put down a riot and looting rampage in Albina, a Surinamese town bordering French Guiana, in violence which wounded 13 people, a government minister said.

The riots were sparked by the death on Thursday of a resident stabbed by a Brazilian suspect, now in custody, said Justice and Police Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

He told a news conference between 100 and 500 people looted a shopping mall and other stores. They also seized the safe of a gold retailer.

At least 80 frightened residents sought refuge in an army barracks.

Albina, a town of about 5,000 people, is the main crossing point to the French territory of French Guiana.

Firemen from Saint Laurent du Maroni, the town on the French side, helped extinguish the fires.

Tensions have brewed in Albina between Brazilian gold prospectors and native Surinamese, including Amerindians, who have a high unemployment rate.

A former Dutch colony which won independence in 1975, Suriname has about half a million people.

(Reporting by Ank Kuipers, Writing by Walker Simon, editing by Alan Elsner)

~ par Alain Bertho sur 26 décembre 2009.

Publié dans émeutes, riots