The appalling ethnic violence in Central Kalimantan is rooted in the decades-long violation of indigenous rights and the wholesale destruction of natural resources in the province...A major cause of the conflict between indigenous Dayaks and Madurese settlers - and other ethnic conflicts in Indonesia - has been the 'development' that the Suharto regime promoted for over thirty years. Natural resources, including Kalimantan's forests and minerals were handed out as concessions for a powerful business elite. The customary landowners - the indigenous Dayaks - were systematically denied their land and resource rights. They have had no recourse to legal action to defend their rights since, under Indonesian law, forests belong to the state.