INDONESIA: Relief as New Zealand Pilot Freed from Captivity in Papua

Posted by Asia Views | Sep 23, 2024 | 0 |

JakartaPost/AFP-Sept 22

Indonesian and New Zealand authorities rejoiced over the weekend as Philip Mehrtens, a New Zealand pilot held hostage for 19 months by a Papuan armed group, walked free on Saturday. Mehrtens was working for Indonesian airline Susi Air when he was abducted on Feb. 7, 2023 by a faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) led by Egianus Kogoya in Nduga, Papua Highlands province. Members of the Cartenz Peace Operation, a joint police and military task force assigned to curb armed criminal groups (KKB) and restore peace in the region, picked up Mehrtens on Saturday morning at a village in Nduga. Medical personnel then checked the pilot’s physical and psychological condition before he was transported to Timika, Papua. Mehrtens’ family thanked the TPNPB, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), for taking care of the pilot while he was in captivity. They also expressed gratitude to Egianus and his fighters for “keeping Phil as safe and healthy as their means allowed”, and for letting the pilot “get several messages out” during captivity to let his family know that he was alive. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo lauded the successful outcome and conveyed his appreciation to the TNI and the police for their restraint throughout “a long negotiation process”. While appreciating the efforts to secure Mehrtens’ release, lawmaker Meutya Hafid called on the government to resolve conflicts in Papua through peaceful means. Atnike Nova Sigiro, chairwoman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), called on authorities to use Mehrten’s case as “momentum to push for better civil rights protection in Papua, in any situation”. Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, also said Mehrten’s release should serve as a reminder that the ongoing conflict in Indonesia’s easternmost region continued to have a real impact on the rights of Papuan people. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2024/09/22/relief-as-new-zealand-pilot-freed-from-captivity-in-papua.html.

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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.”

INDONESIA: Relief as New Zealand Pilot Freed from Captivity in Papua

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