A total of 223 females, including 40 girls, were killed by Myanmar’s junta in the first four months of the year, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). The activist group, which monitors junta killings and arrests, stated that 223 women, including 40 under-18s, have died in junta attacks from January to April. Junta shelling killed 98 women and airstrikes caused 82 deaths, it said. The regime detained 75 females, including a six-year-old girl, and they remain behind bars, the rights group said. Yangon Region reported the detention of 20 females, followed by Mandalay Region with 13 women. The AAPP said 27 females were given lengthy prison sentences under the Counterterrorism Law of which seven were sentenced to life imprisonment. Sagaing Region reported the most female detentions with 13. Human rights activist Ma Thinzar Shunlei Yi said the death and torture of many other females will have gone unreported. “The regime tortures women physically and mentally. Many of our sisters are still being tortured and killed,” she added. The military has targeted civilians since seizing power in 2021 with the AAPP reporting 4,962 deaths. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/aapp-myanmar-junta-killed-223-females-this-year.html
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.”
