Parents Are Alert, Innocent Children And Police Are Potential Targets For Terrorists To Recruit

Photo by Gading Ihsan on Unsplash

JAKARTA - Assistant Deputy for Child Protection for Special Conditions at the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, Elvi Hendrani, said that children are vulnerable to being targeted by terrorist groups.

"Children are very vulnerable to being recruited by terrorism groups. They use children because children are still looking for identity, emotions are still unstable, naivety and innocence and their thoughts are still weak, both in experience and knowledge. Children are also considered a strategy because they are not suspected by the security forces", said Elvi Hendrani through a press release in Jakarta, Wednesday, February 16, quoted from Antara.

According to him, there has been a change in the pattern of recruitment of terrorist actors, which initially only targeted adults, but now targets children.

"The phenomenon of social problems faced by many countries, including in Indonesia, is that children become victims of criminal acts of terrorism until they are made cadres by terrorists. This shows that there is a shift in the pattern of recruitment of terrorists who were previously only adults, now also targeting children. child", she said.

Elvi said terrorism is an extraordinary crime that is included in the category of humanitarian disaster because it has an extraordinary impact physically and psychologically, namely giving trauma to those who experience it, especially to children.

"Radicalism and terrorism are threats to children in terms of religion, social life, child development, character and character and values of nationalism and love for the homeland", she said.

The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection continues to encourage the prevention and protection of children from victims of radicalization and terrorism networks to obtain education, protection, and fulfillment of basic rights, namely parenting, education, participation, and play.

The central government, law enforcement officers, and local governments are expected to participate in protecting children who are victims of terrorist networks.

"The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection as the organizer of child protection coordination at the center has encouraged the regions to coordinate and work together to realize child protection. We at the center have collaborated on policy formulation involving ministries/agencies, forming coordination forums, and implementing psychosocial support together with Densus 88. We also work with the Ministry of Religion and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Technology Research to conduct a rapid study of intolerance in the education unit", said Elvi.