The BBC is reporting that a freelance television presenter who worked for their charity branch has been sentenced to three years hard labor in Myanmar.
Htet Htet Khine, the presenter of a program produced by BBC Media Action for local audiences, was arrested in August 2021, the BBC reports. Richard Lace, BBC Media Action’s director of programs said the move was alarming, and runs counter to basic principles of human rights and freedom of expression. The junta authorities said Htet Htet Khine’s reporting amounted to incitement and illegal association, charges her family said were unjust. Her contact with family and access to legal representation has been limited since her arrest, BBC Media Action says. Since the February 2021 coup, 12 media outlets have been forcibly shut and 142 journalists arrested. Htet Htet Khine became well known in the country as the face of Khan Sar Kyi, described by the charity as a national television peace program, and had travelled across the country showing the impact of internal conflicts. The BBC notes that BBC Media action is an independent charity that operates separately from BBC News. It follows the corporation’s editorial standards but is distinct from BBC News Burmese language news programs. Read more at:c
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.”
