Give Ex-ISIS Fighters' Children a Second Chance: BNPT
Translator
Editor
9 July 2019 22:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chief of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) Suhardi Alius argues there should be no plight in granting children of former Islamic States fighters a second chance to live a better life.
“Give them a second chance as they are innocent,” said Suhardi in a Tempo public discussion today entitled “Para Pengejar Mimpi ISIS: Layakkah Mereka Kembali” (The ISIS dream chasers: are they worthy to return).
The discussion was derived from a feature article in Tempo Magazine’s June 15th edition of the people who have chased their ISIS dreams to Syria.
According to Suhardi, letting the children of the terrorists live in limbo at a refugee camp overseas is feared to actually create a sense of vengefulness once these children grow up. The BNPT chief explained that these children might grow thinking they were rejected by society and are victims of social injustice.
“Not everything must be faced with violence, because it can create animosity [that might] lead to future violence,” Suhardi argued.
Even though Suhardi says that accommodating the children home is not the government’s duty, but he realizes that there is no guarantee that these children will not be the seed of future radicals in Indonesia.
He said that this issue can be solved by putting forth humanism within each and every former Islamic States sympathizers that will be sent back home. Suhardi tipped on possible total surveillance on these people if they do get accommodated back.
FIRA PRAMESWARI
Read: BNPT Chief: This Is Not Just about Returning People Home