Indonesian Military Chief General Yudo Margono said on Wednesday he prefers peaceful means to rescue a pilot from New Zealand who has been taken hostage by the separatist group Free Papua Movement, or OPM, for almost two months now. Yudo said the use of a military operation risks civilian casualties and could be politicized by the rebels. Philip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot for Indonesian airline Susi Air, was abducted by fighters of the West Papua National Liberation Army, the military wing of the OPM, during an attack at Paro Airport in Nduga Regency in the Indonesian eastern province on February 7. “We are ready for the rescue task but I will continue with the persuasive power with the help of religious and community leaders and also the local government,” Yudo told reporters at the military headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta. “The Nduga regent asked me yesterday to stick to the persuasive approach,” he added. A military operation may also provide a political benefit to the abductors because if anything happens to the pilot, they can put the blame on the Indonesian Military. A peaceful attempt to rescue the hostage may take a long time but he said that according to the latest photo released by the rebels, the pilot is in good condition. “It’s not easy to reach the location, no land vehicles can go there,” Yudo said. Read more at:
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.”
