The Genealogy of Communal Conflict in Vilage in Ambon-Maluku, Indonesia (A Historical, Sociological and Legal Perspective)

Abstract

Inter-village conflicts on Ambon Island, Maluku (the Moluccas), have occurred since the Dutch colonial era. Conflicts have always involved acts of violence that continue to occur to this day. So far, the inter-village conflicts in Ambon commonly known as “inter-village fights” have escaped the attention of researchers because the existing studies tend to focus more on religious conflicts or ethnic conflicts in Maluku. Therefore, this paper aims to see how the process of inter-villege fights occur, what factors affect the emergence of such conflict and how locality-based conflict management models can be an alternative for sustainable peace development in Ambon. A qualitative approach is used to discuss these three issues from a historical, sociological and legal context with in-depth data and analysis. This paper shows that the history of inter-village fights on Ambon Island is a historical legacy of the Dutch colonial government which was stimulated by the process of dividing the main villages into two parts, one under the Dutch rule and the other under the rule of the Tanah Hitu Kingdom. Historical, cultural and modernization factors that have brought a climate of openness in Ambon have also affected the escalation of inter-village conflicts in this region to this day. This paper also recommends the need for more comprehensive research on this theme. In addition to looking at communal fighting on a broader scale, in-depth research is also aimed at providing an analysis of more complex aspects such as the victims, the tools used in each fight, as well as mediation process and law enforcement.