Yasonna Laoly Updates 1,276 Ex-ISIS Indonesians in Syria
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25 February 2020 19:16 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said there are 1,276 Indonesians who left the country to join ISIS in Syria, and 297 of them still have their passports and complete identity documents.
"Based on updated data as of yesterday [Monday, Feb. 24], BNPT and Densus confirm that 297 of them are still having their passports," said Yasonna during a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission Law at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Jakarta on Tuesday, February 25, 2020.
According to Yasonna, the government is still listing data of those former ISIS supporters in Syria and surrounding areas, and conducting an assessment with the help of intelligence elements.
Even though some of them continue to keep their passports, the government could not necessarily repatriate them because they are waiting for the result of the in-depth assessment, Yasonna asserted.
Earlier on Monday, February 24, 2020, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md said that the joint national team was profiling Indonesians who joined ISIS. The collected data had been submitted to the Law and Human Rights Ministry as the basic information to block their passports, Mahfud added.
However, Mahfud clarified that the passport block would be valid only for adults because the government will open the door to children and orphans of ISIS combatants who are still under 10 years old. At present, the joint team is led by the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT)
FIKRI ARIGI | AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI