Separation Movements Around the World

Posted by AsiaViews | Oct 24, 2017 | 0 |

Manila Bulletin, October 18, 2017

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/18/separation-movements-around-the-world/

In recent months, there have been movements in various parts of the world by people seeking separation and independence from their present governments.

A great deal of world attention was focused on the Catalan people in northern Spain whose Barcelona is Spain’s second city after Madrid. Last October 1, the Catalans voted (90 percent) to separate from Spain in a referendum. The national government has declared the voting unconstitutional and threatened police action.

The Kurds of the Middle East have not received as much media attention, but their longing for their own state goes back many years. The Iraqi Kurds voted for independence (93 percent) in a referendum held by the Kurdistan Regional Government on September 25 but the Iraqi government has also rejected the referendum as illegal. The Kurds are also in Turkey, Iran, and Syria –occupying a contiguous area – and the governments of these countries understandably oppose any diminution of their territory in the event a Kurdish state comes into being.

Scotland was an independent kingdom in the early Middle Ages which joined with England in 1603 when James VI of Scotland was declared King of England and Ireland. It became part of the United Kingdom in 1800, but enjoys home rule. In the last independence referendum in 2014, the “no” vote prevailed (55 percent), but after the Great Britain voted last year to exit the European Union in “Brexit,” the Scots are considering a new vote for separation and independence.

These are only three of the more recent and better-covered cases of people seeking greater autonomy or separate statehood. We have had our own Moro liberation movements which, fortunately, have decided to seek greater autonomy instead under the proposed federal government pushed by President Duterte.

We continue to follow developments in Spain, the Middle East, and Great Britain, and we do so with some sympathy for some groups’ desire to be independent nations, but also with the hope that their leaders will see the need in some cases for unity and strength in diversity. Most of all, we hope that all differences will be resolved with peaceful negotiations and with due consideration for the rights of all concerned.

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POINTS TO PONDER

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.”

Separation Movements Around the World