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Radicalized children, the future terror
Imprisoning their parents may stop violent extremism, but not prevent future terror acts.
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The absence of parents or parental figures has made children more susceptible to violent behavior. (Shutterstock/File)
H
aft Saiful Rasul was only 11 years old when he died in Syria with the Islamic State (IS). He was the son of convicted terrorist Brekele, who is known by security officials as a hardcore supporter of IS in Indonesia (Reuters, 2017).
Haft’s death must serve as a wake-up call for the security authorities and the public because we tend to ignore children when discussing radicalization and extremism in Indonesia.
The 2014 Child Protection Law classifies children as those aged below 18. At least eight children have been imprisoned this year for their involvement in terrorism-related cases. This phenomenon must be a cause for concern, because we are seeing the rise of the children of terror.
Last November, I conducted a field study in Poso, Central Sulawesi, where communal conflicts in early 2000 killed many people. Poso is still considered ground zero for radicalization in Indonesia.
My conversation with children aged 3 to 12 and their mothers, whose fathers and husbands were involved in the sectarian violence and have either been imprisoned or killed by the police, led me to conclude that the children experienced a process of radicalization the same way adults, who I had talked to, did.
These children were dragged into a cycle of terror influenced mainly through schools, religious groups and social media. I observed that they were also traumatized by these experiences.
A mother told me that three of her sons witnessed police killing their father in an ambush. Since the incident, they become more reserved, angry and violent.
