INDONESIAN Ulema Council Condemns Koran Burning in Sweden

Posted by Asia Views | Jan 24, 2023 | 0 |

JakartaGlobe-Jan 23, 2023

The Indonesian Ulema Council, or MUI, denounces the burning of a copy of the Koran by a Danish-Swedish far-right politician during a recent protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the Danish far-right political party Stram Kurs, set fire to a copy of the Koran when protesting outside the Turkish Embassy over the weekend. The Islamophobic act has sparked worldwide outrage. Condemnation also poured in from Indonesia, the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, particularly among its Islamic scholars. “What Rasmus Paludan and his group did has sparked a conflict in Sweden. This act is not only shameful but also uncivilized,” Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim, the head of foreign affairs at the MUI, said on Monday. The MUI accuses Paludan and his group of spreading xenophobia, racism, and Islamophobia. The MUI urged the Swedish government to take immediate action against the perpetrators. “If the Swedish government fails to take action, extremism and Islamophobia will only continue to spread and threaten humanity. This is baffling, because they [the perpetrators] have committed the act several times, but we have not seen a firm action taken against Paludan,” Sudarnoto said. “This is the same as the [Swedish] government letting Islamophobia spread even though it goes against the United Nations’ resolution on combating Islamophobia,” he said. The MUI demanded an explanation from the Swedish Ambassador in Indonesia. According to Sudarnoto, the Swedish ambassador should promise to take action to stop all sorts of extremism. He also called for the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry to make a diplomatic appeal to the Swedish envoy in Jakarta. The Foreign Affairs Ministry on Sunday announced on Twitter that Indonesia strongly condemned the Koran burning. Read more at: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesian-ulema-council-condemns-koran-burning-in-sweden

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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.”

INDONESIAN Ulema Council Condemns Koran Burning in Sweden

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