The Youth 20, commonly abbreviated as Y20, on Saturday kicked off its fourth pre-summit in Manokwari, West Papua, with discussions revolving around promoting diversity and inclusion, including ways to promote inclusive education. According to Y20 Indonesia 2022 co-chair Nurul Hidayatul Ummah, inequality affects all segments of the population. It is particularly detrimental to marginalized and vulnerable groups, which are often the youth. Nurul also named inadequate human capital investment and rising intolerance among societies as some of the biggest challenges that the youth of today are facing. “At the moment, the world has the largest young generation in history with more than 1.8 billion people. Young people can be a powerful force for development and social and economic transformation when provided with the skills, knowledge, and opportunities,” Nurul said in her remarks. Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali —in a speech read by the ministry’s deputy assistant for youth partnerships Manalu— echoed a similar sentiment. He said he hoped the Y20 forum could come up with recommendations on improving human capital to boost the youth’s quality of life. Read more at: https://jakartaglobe.id/special-updates/y20-fourth-presummit-discusses-diversity-and-inclusion
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.”
