T

he Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) to Egypt in Cairo is urging Jakarta to suspend any state-led initiatives to send students to study in the country, which is currently in a state of emergency waging a war on terrorists.

Speaking with reporters in Jakarta, the Foreign Ministry’s director for protection of citizens overseas, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, revealed that the Cairo mission had urged the government to “coordinate with relevant government institutions” to temporarily stop the flow of Indonesian students to Egypt, citing conditions that are not conducive for study.

“What’s clear is that now security in Egypt has been increasingly tighter in recent times, so the KBRI has asked us [to stop students from departing for the country],” Iqbal said on Tuesday.

The move comes after five Indonesian students residing in Cairo were rounded up by local security forces on Nov. 22 on the grounds of “national security.”

In response, the KBRI in Cairo issued a diplomatic notice to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council seeking further information and has gotten in touch with the detainees to provide them with any necessary assistance.

Two of the arrested, identified as Dodi Firmansyah Damhuri and Muhammad Jafar, were released after authorities found they were in possession of valid stay permits as students. Of the three other students who were under investigation by the Egyption National Security Council and the Interior Ministry, only one, Muhammad Fitrah Nur Akbar, remains in custody, Iqbal said.

“Based on the results of an investigation by the Egyptian National Security Council, two students — identified as Ardinal Khairy and Hartopo Abdul Jabbar — face deportation on the grounds of endangering national security,” Iqbal said, citing a report from Cairo. “As such, the Egyptian National Security Council will not issue an official notice. Any decision made in the case of [Fitrah] will be communicated at the first opportunity.”

Egypt’s security forces have been waging a war on terrorism that has affected numerous foreign students, with authorities shadowing those they suspect are interacting with any rivals of the state who “endanger national security.” According to the Foreign Ministry, 18 Indonesian students have been deported since October, when President Abdel Fatteh El-Sisi imposed a state of emergency aimed at fighting terrorism.

Fitrah is still in detention at the Nasr City II Police Station and efforts are ongoing to get him out.

The mission in Cairo issued another notice to the Egyptian authorities to demand that the remaining detainee be freed based on official records that provide proof Fitrah holds a stay permit that is valid through 2018 and that he was still listed as a student of Al Azhar University.

Tensions in Egypt escalated to new heights following the country’s deadliest attack last month. Islamic extremists carried out a massacre at a Sufist mosque in the northern region of the Sinai Peninsula, killing 305 people.