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Indonesia does well to prevent citizens from fighting for IS: UK Ambassador
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UK Ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik (center) poses alongside Edi Mancoro Islamic Boarding School students in Semarang, Central Java on Feb. 24. During the visit, he said that the British government had opened its door for students hoping to study in the UK. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
T
he British Ambassador to Indonesia has praised Indonesia for its effort to prevent citizens from being recruited as foreign fighters, recruited to fight for Islamic State (IS) groups in Syria and Iraq.
UK Ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik said on Monday that there were currently about 500 British people who had left the UK in order to join the IS group, the same number as Indonesians who had departed for Syria.
While the Muslim population of the UK is less than three million people, 5 percent of the UK population, in Indonesia, the majority of the population is Muslim, Malik said.
"Compared to other countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and even in Europe, some things are going right in Indonesia and we all need to learn from that," Malik told journalists.
The reason behind the relatively small numbers leaving to Syria is thought to be driven by several factors, such as the strong role of Indonesian civil society organizations, the role of Indonesia's national ideology as well as the national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (unity in diversity), he added.
The government's effort to create inclusiveness for a political community that stretches across 17,000 islands with 500 languages was also an example of good practice, Malik said.
However, he added, the Indonesian government had to remain vigilant in terms of the growing radical ideology and strengthen the role of Muslim organizations such as Muhammadiyah, Nahdaltul Ulama (NU), and other communities in order to push extremists to the fringe and out of the country.
"Indonesia has not won the fight, it needs to continue to win the fight," Malik said. (bbn)
