I

ndonesia is mulling over sending more soldiers overseas to beef up security of additional foreign representation offices that are considered hardship posts, officials have revealed.

While discussing plans to deploy Indonesian Army Special Forces (Kopassus) personnel to the embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Indonesian Military (TNI) said that Jakarta was also preparing to send security personnel to other posts, including Iraq and Papua New Guinea. The Foreign Ministry and the TNI inked an agreement in December last year that would allow the deployment of military personnel to any Indonesian mission that is vulnerable to danger.

TNI spokesman Brig. Gen. Sabrar Fadhilah reiterated the terms of the agreement on Monday, saying the TNI was preparing to deploy troops to other locations, like Papua New Guinea, where Indonesia had already stationed Kopassus troops to protect its embassy in the capital, Port Moresby, in 1993 and 1994.

“But we have to remember that not all places have the same conditions and we have different criteria to consider for different places,” he said on Monday.

According to travel advisories issued by New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the law and order situation in Papua New Guinea poses serious risks and crime is particularly high in the capital.

Jakarta had announced it would send troops to the mission in Kabul “in early 2018” as the post was deemed vulnerable following attacks near diplomatic compounds throughout 2017.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said last week ahead of a visit to Afghanistan that the move was still “on track” and said the precise schedule for deployment was still under discussion. Sabrar said on Monday that technical details were still being discussed and added that there was no deadline for sending troops to
Afghanistan.

“Right now we have prepared [everything within] our responsibilities and so has the Foreign Ministry. We’re still discussing [the deployment], so we’ll see,” the military officer said. Sabrar did not provide any definite number of personnel that would be stationed there. “We’ll have to see how dangerous it is,” he added.

Separately, the Foreign Ministry’s director for South and Central Asian affairs, Ferdy Piay, revealed plans to also reinforce security at the embassy in Iraq.

“But so far Afghanistan remains our top priority considering the situation in Kabul,” Ferdy said, adding that military personnel have already been “prepared and trained” for deployment.

Indonesia’s envoy to Afghanistan, Arief Rachman, previously said the ideal number of troops required for extra security depended on their activities. “It could be as small as six to eight persons or as large as a 10- to 12-person team. […] We can at least try the smaller team and adjust in accordance to our requirements,” Arief said.

At present, local police provide protection for the Indonesian compound in Kabul, which occupies 6,000 square meters of land and is surrounded by double concrete walls. The reinforced main building houses a 120-sq.m. bunker in the middle of it.

In 1970, Jakarta sent Kopassus to the Netherlands in response to an incident at the Indonesian mission in Wassenar, just a week before a planned visit by then-president Suharto.

At the time, members of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) separatist group shot dead a Dutch policeman and held the wife of then-Indonesian ambassador Taswin Natadiningrat hostage.

“Nowadays there aren’t any Kopassus guarding the embassy,” said Indonesian Ambassador to the Netherlands, IGA Wesaka Puja.