Deciding The Fate Of Ex -ISIS Citizens Admitted By The Government Is Not An Easy Thing

Discussion on ex-ISIS Indonesians attended by terrorism observer, University of Indonesia Ridlwan Habib and Presidential Staff Expert, Ali Mochtar Ngabalin (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

JAKARTA - The government is reviewing the possibility of repatriating former ISIS Indonesians who are scattered in the Middle East. There are about 660 Indonesian citizens who are still waiting for their fate, whether to be repatriated or not.

President Joko Widodo will make the decision to return or not in June after hearing various input from the authorities.

In response to this, University of Indonesia terrorism observer Ridlwan Habib asked the government not to delay this decision. This is because the longer the government postpones the termination of this matter, it will disturb social stability in the country.

"Because this is no longer a matter for the government and the DPR. This is between communities anymore. This could repeat the debate over the presidential election before Pak Prabowo became Minister of Defense, could, could go that way," Ridlwan said in a discussion in the Cikini area, Central Jakarta, Sunday, February 9 .

He assessed that the government must quickly take existing decisions.

"We have a president, we have a government, why not the limit (limited meeting) next week? For example, the results will be communicated on Wednesday to the DPR, Commission I on Friday. Whatever the options ... Is it scientifically? Komnas HAM has also provided guidelines, if you want to be scientific like this you can, "he explained.

This observer became suspicious that the government was reluctant to make decisions quickly because it did not want to take political risks. "Because any decision later (the government will take) will be beaten right and left," he said.

Moreover, he considered, since the issue had rolled around, many politicians had made the return of this former ISIS citizen a political commodity for themselves.

Ridlwan gave an example, the words of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Mardani Ali Sera who incorrectly used an analogy, even Indonesian citizens in Wuhan were taken because of the spread of the corona virus why Indonesian former ISIS citizens were not sent home. "It's not apple to apple but I see there are political commodities there," he said.

"So what becomes the discourse is no longer human rights but political commodities. Don't be too long and why be afraid? Pak Jokowi will not move forward again in 2024," he added.

Not afraid, but difficult

In the same place, Expert Staff to the Presidential Staff, Ali Mochtar Ngabalin, responded to Ridwlan's statement. He said, the discourse on the repatriation of former ISIS Indonesians was not an easy matter to decide. This discourse does need to be discussed comprehensively with other authorities so as not to cause other mistakes.

Nothing progressed. Ali also mentioned the draft or draft currently being made by the government. The issue of this draft has previously been touched on by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD.

Kemenkopolhukam and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), the National Police, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), the Ministry of Religion, and the Ministry of Social Affairs are conducting a study on the plan to repatriate them.

As a result, there have been two drafts or drafts which consider whether or not the Indonesian citizens who became terrorist combatants were to be returned. However, this draft will still be discussed further with Vice President Ma'ruf Amin before finally being handed over to President Jokowi.

"This is important to discuss comprehensively. Because dealing with the former ISIS is not easy, you know," said Ali, adding that it took time to discuss the draft.

Ali also emphasized that so far there is no doubt in President Jokowi in determining whether the repatriation is carried out or not. It's just that, according to Ali, the former governor of DKI Jakarta does not want everything to run recklessly and must comply with existing regulations.

"The president has absolutely no doubts, but for the interests of democracy, regulatory interests, and the interests of a great nation this must be properly managed, made and discussed," he said.

Not only the matter of regulation, Ali also said that it took the government to make decisions because currently the government was carrying out profiling or checking the track records of 660 ex-ISIS Indonesians scattered in several camps.

However, Ali reminded anyone who had chosen the path of jihad by joining ISIS not to burden the Indonesian government by begging for repatriation.

"You have called this country a thogut country and an infidel country, yes, tearing and burning passports, yes, you eat those passports," he concluded.