ANTI-CORRUPTION MUST BE A COMMON CAUSE

Posted by AsiaViews | Feb 25, 2018 | 0 |

Transparency International, a global movement fighting against corruption, recently announced its 2017 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which examines the perceived level of public corruption around the world. The results are pretty dismal. Where a score of 0 on the index reflects a highly corrupt country and 100 a very clean one, two-thirds of the 180 countries included in the index score less than 50. In fact, the global average is a mere 43, an average which has remained stagnant since 2015.

Indonesia’s score of 37 is below the global average, even below that of ASEAN at 41. As in the world in general, Indonesia has made no progress in its fight against corruption, scoring the same as last year.

Those in support of the government may dispute the results, focusing on the fact that Indonesia’s place in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking has jumped 19 places and that in ASEAN, only Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and, surprisingly Timor Leste, outperform us in the CPI. Although cutting red tape is a significant improvement, it is not enough to attract the investments we need or to raise the credibility we crave. We need to do better in fighting corruption, particularly if the government wants to achieve its ambitious goal of achieving a score of 65 by 2019.

Unfortunately, there are those who believe that improving the CPI is the responsibility of the KPK. This was emphasized by the chair of parliament’s Special Inquiry Committee on the KPK, who requested that the KPK improve the CPI score within the next five years. It is unclear whether such a statement is a reflection of the lack of understanding of what the CPI is all about or whether parliamentarians don’t see themselves as part of the problem.

The CPI is a composite index of credible sources with global experts and business players as respondents. Data sources range from the WEF Executive Opinion Survey, the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook to research by the Varities of Democracy Project. The findings of sources related to the political arena and the judiciary, such as the EIU Country Ratings, PRS International Country Risk Guide, the World Justice Project and the PERC Asia Risk Guide, have either remained stagnant or have deteriorated, which means that these areas are perceived to be the most prone to corruption.

As regional and presidential elections loom ahead, we are already witnessing several incumbent regional heads caught in KPK sting operations, for their attempts to acquire illicit funds for their re-election bids. Strong public calls for the resignation of the Constitutional Court’s Chief Justice for ethical breaches have also fallen on deaf ears as the allegations of political lobbying to secure his second term continue to be raised.

Unless we improve the management of political parties and our electoral systems, we will see many more such cases. Unless we translate our stated commitment to fighting corruption into real action in strengthening anti-corruption measures within government, parliament, and the private sector, we cannot significantly improve our CPI score. Finally, unless the public continues to voice its anger and demand for greater transparency and accountability from those in public office, making it a common cause, corruption will continue to thrive.

(nsoebagjo@gmail.com)

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

ANTI-CORRUPTION MUST BE A COMMON CAUSE