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Repatriating former fighters to avoid worse problems
The phenomenon of Indonesian foreign fighters dates back to the 1980s, when hundreds of people left the country for Afghanistan to help Muslims there fight the Soviet Union army and return as well-trained mujahideen.
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Men, suspected of being affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group, gather in a prison cell in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on October 26, 2019. (AFP/ FADEL SENNA)
T
he government has decided against the homecoming of some 600 former foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from Syria as “they could become a new terrorist virus” that will threaten Indonesia’s entire population.
Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD announced the decision, a few days after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expressed his refusal to welcome back the returnees. The country’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, supports the government’s policy.
The call to fighting for the Islamic State (IS) group had enticed hundreds of Indonesians to quit their jobs, leave their hometowns, with or without their families.
The phenomenon of Indonesian foreign fighters dates back to the 1980s, when hundreds of people left the country for Afghanistan to help Muslims there fight the Soviet Union army and return as well-trained mujahideen. From there, they set up structures and engaged with local networks in paramilitary mobilization and terrorist-related activities.
At that time, Indonesia had no counterterrorism agency and lacked coordination in terms of information-sharing among intelligence agencies. Security authorities failed to detect terrorist sleeper cells.
Indonesia now faces a potential wave of foreign fighter returnees from IS, which has considerable influence on our society. This is precisely why leaving them stranded is counterproductive.
First, the statements of both Jokowi and Mahfud could potentially be new viruses themselves. They appear to defend the nation by raising security concerns. Indeed, the caliphate IS had envisioned might already be dead but the terrorist group’s ideas and doctrines are still alive in the minds of people in Indonesia. The possibility of IS sympathizers recruiting others is inevitable and could potentially give rise to extremism — exactly what Indonesians fear the most.
