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220 Indonesians deported from Turkey
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Entry point: Construction workers put the finishing details on the entrance of Istanbul's newly-constructed Eurasia Tunnel that runs under the Marmara Sea, in Istanbul, on Dec. 16. (AP/Emrah Gurel)
I
ndonesia has sent back home a total of 220 of its citizens from Turkey since the beginning of 2015, following the latest deportation of three Indonesians suspected of trying to cross into Syria to join up as foreign terrorist fighters with the Islamic State (IS) group.
Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the Foreign Ministry’s director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad, said two dozen Indonesians had been deported from Turkey throughout the year.
“Twenty four people [were deported] in 2016,” Iqbal told The Jakarta Post on Monday. “The remaining [cases] occurred last year.”
A total of 196 cases of citizen deportation from Turkey took place in 2015. It remains unclear whether the list consists mainly of Indonesians trying to join IS.
(Read also: Three Indonesians detained for allegedly joining Syrian militants)
Iqbal said on Sunday that the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara informally passed on a report to the ministry that three Indonesian men had been captured in the Turkish city of Hatay, a short distance from the border with war-torn Syria.
The three young men were suspected of planning to cross the border to join the fight with IS as foreign terrorist fighters.
“According to information from the Turkish authorities, the three Indonesians were subject to immediate deportation via Istanbul,” Iqbal said.
“In receiving this intelligence, the Foreign Ministry proceeded to follow-up with the National Police’s Densus 88.”
Also on Sunday, National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Rikwanto confirmed the intelligence report that was shared among media sources earlier in the day.
The three men have been identified as Tomi Gunawan, 18, a resident of Pekanbaru in Riau; Jang Johana, 25, from Bandung, West Java; and Irfan, 21, from Jakarta.
The three suspects claimed that they did not know each other, Rikwanto added, saying that they were all arrested in Syria on Dec. 5 because they had allegedly joined militants fighting the Syrian government.
The three men were deported from an Istanbul airport. The Densus 88 counterterrorism squad immediately arrested them upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten province, on Saturday.
All of them were taken directly to the police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, West Java, for interrogation.
Despite Densus 88’s recent successes, there has been concern that the militant threat to Indonesia is mounting as IS fighters return home battle-hardened from Syria and Iraq. The ultra-radical group also commands support from Indonesians who have stayed at home.
Around 800 Indonesians have traveled to Syria to join IS, according to the police.
