Is It Possible To Repatriate Children Of Indonesian Citizens Who Are Former ISIS Combatants?

A car destroyed in an attack in Mosul, Iraq (Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - After becoming a polemic, the government decided not to repatriate the 690 ex-ISIS Indonesian citizens who were in the Middle East region. The decision was conveyed by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD after a meeting with other relevant authorities.

The figure of 689 people mentioned by Mahfud is data he obtained from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or the United States (US) intelligence agency. From this data, it was recorded that there were 228 people whose identities had been identified. Meanwhile, 400 other people are still not identified.

"The government has no plans to repatriate terrorists, it will not repatriate FTF (Foreign Terrorist Fighters) to Indonesia," said Menkopolhukam Mahfud MD to reporters at the Bogor Palace, West Java, Tuesday, February 11.

The decision not to return the former ISIS Indonesian citizens was because the government wanted to provide a sense of security to hundreds of millions of other Indonesians. This is because if the former combatants are sent home, it is not impossible that there will be a new terrorist virus in the community.

"If this FTF returns home, it will become a new virus that makes the people of 267 million feel insecure," he said.

Although they will not be sent home, the data collection of hundreds of ex-ISIS Indonesians will still be carried out. The goal is for the government to know exactly and validly the number and identity of those who join the group.

Consider the child

Even so, the government opens up opportunities for the repatriation of children under the age of ten. "But, case by case," said Mahfud, adding, the children who were sent home were only those who no longer had parents or were orphans.

Previously, the government had conducted a study to repatriate hundreds of Indonesians who joined ISIS and now live in three camps: Al Roj, Al Hol, and Ainisa. The camp is under three powers, namely the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), the Syrian government and the government of Kurdistan.

This study should only be decided in June, because the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD said he and other authorities were preparing two drafts that would soon be accepted by President Joko Widodo to decide the fate of Indonesian citizens who are now ISIS combatants.