Posted by Asia Views | Oct 10, 2025 |
JakartaGlobe-Oct 10 Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued a tsunami warning early Friday after a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast near Melonguane, North Sulawesi, at 8:43...
Read MorePosted by Asia Views | Oct 10, 2025 |
MalayMail/AFP-Oct 10 Myanmar’s junta said today that Malaysia would send observation teams to its long-delayed election, as it battles multiple rebel forces opposed to the poll. A civil war has consumed Myanmar since the...
Read MorePosted by Asia Views | Oct 10, 2025 |
Mizzima-Oct 9 Around 5,000 long-term internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Banmauk Township, Sagaing Region, are facing acute food shortages as fighting continues between the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) and resistance...
Read MorePosted by Asia Views | Oct 10, 2025 |
BangkokPost-Oct 10 Thailand’s Department of Disease Control has sounded the alarm over a sharp rise in influenza cases, which have now surpassed 700,000 nationwide, with 61 deaths reported. As the country transitions into the...
Read MorePosted by Asia Views | Oct 9, 2025 |
JakartaPost-Oct 9, 2025 Industry players have warned that Indonesia’s export reputation is on the line, as delays in addressing recent radioactive and toxic material contamination could undermine the credibility of local goods...
Read More
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.”
