TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed that there were eight Indonesian citizens deported by the Malaysian authority to Batam. The Indonesians were thought to be affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group.

"That’s right, on January 10, 2017, there were eight Indonesian citizens deported by Malaysian authority," Director for Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Legal Entities at the Foreign Ministry Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said on Wednesday, January 11, 2017.

Based on the Ministry's verification, the Indonesians were students of Pondok Pesantren Darul Hadits, Bukit Tinggi, West Sumatera. They departed to Malaysia on January 3, 2017.

"They stayed in Kuala Lumpur for three days, which was to seek treatment for one of their members, and they also stayed overnight at Perlis, Malaysia," Iqbal said.

The Indonesians were heading towards Pattani, Thailand, on January 7, 2017. Their journey was intended to conduct a study on the educational system of an Islamic Education Institution at Pattani.

According to Iqbal, the Indonesians were then given the not to land (NTL) status by Singaporean immigration authorities, beforeing arriving in the country to make a transit stop on January 9, 2017. "The main reason is because they discovered an image that is related to ISIS contained in their mobile phones. Which is why they were deported from Singapore to Malaysia," Iqbal added.

YOHANES PASKALIS