After a three-year Covid hiatus, immigration at the Mong Cai International Border Gate connecting Vietnam and China resumed at 8 a.m. Sunday. Thousands of Chinese citizens in Vietnam gathered at the border gate in Quang Ninh Province to cross into their home country. Over 1,000 crossed in the first two hours. Chinese authorities required all who passed to produce negative RT-PCT Covid tests completed within 48 hours of immigrating. In this first phase of re-opening, China is only allowing its own citizens to cross it’s border. Vietnamese and other nationals will have to wait. Dongxing authorities have asked their Mong Cai counterparts to verify the Covid-19 test results of all entrants. At other border gates such as Bac Luan 2, Floating Bridge, and Dongxing trade station, China has softened its Covid-19 measures and no longer identifies any areas as “red-zones” at high risk of Covid-19 outbreaks. The country also no longer requires vehicles entering the country be disinfected on both sides of the borders. Drivers also no longer need PCT-PCR test results. Mong Cai Customs Authorities have ordered immigration staff to prepare for between 5,000 and 15,000 people to start crossing the border each day. Read more at: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/china-immigration-resumes-at-northern-vietnam-border-gate-4557555.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.”