Posted by AsiaViews | Oct 24, 2017 |
The total number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh has soared to an estimated 900,000 as the UN opened a major fundraising conference on Monday aimed at securing hundreds of millions of dollars aid groups say is needed to care...
Read MorePosted by AsiaViews | Oct 24, 2017 |
Philippines’ defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana declared on Monday an end to five months of fierce urban warfare in a southern city held by pro-Islamic State militants, a battle that has marked the country’s biggest...
Read MorePosted by AsiaViews | Oct 24, 2017 |
Southeast Asian defence ministers on Monday expressed “grave concern” over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and underscored the “need to maintain peace and stability in the region” and...
Read MorePosted by AsiaViews | Oct 24, 2017 |
Indonesia is still waiting for detailed explanation on why the US government barred its military chief, General Gatot Nurmantyo, from traveling to the US. Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi was quoted by Reuters on Monday...
Read MorePosted by AsiaViews | Oct 24, 2017 |
Malaysia has asked Interpol to try to locate a Malaysian financier for questioning over his suspected involvement in a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad...
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.”
