Indonesian Formed Police Unit 8 Return Home after 1-Year Service

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Formed Police Unit (FPU) 8 is back to Indonesia after a one-year service in Sudan, North Africa. The Indonesian FPU 8 members arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta on Sunday, March 5, 2017, at 11:55 West Indonesia Time.

The Indonesian FPU 8 members headed straight to the National Police’s Multi-Function Training Center in Cikeas, West Java, on five buses.

National Police International Relationship Division head Insp. Gen. H. Saiful Maltha said that before returning to their families, the Indoneisan FPU 8 members would undergo medical check-ups and weapon checks.

“Before returning to their respective units they will be debriefed,” Saiful told journalists on Sunday, March 5, 2017.

Saiful admitted that the Indonesian FPU 8 team’s repatriation was delayed, because some of them had to undergo interrogations in relation to a gun smuggling case. The National Police sent a legal team for the FPU members.

According to Saiful, the Indonesian FPU 8 members stayed at camps provided by the United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The Indonesian FPU served a task to maintain order and protect United Nation’s personnel and facilities, as well as supporting police operations. The Indonesian FPU members were also actively involved in community policing activities helping internally displaced persons in Darfur.

The National Police sent the FPU team for the first time on the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Darfur on October 15, 2008. The program was initiated under a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Indonesia and the UN. In the MoU, the National Police pledged to deploy 140 personnel for one year. The 9th wave of the Indonesian FPU has been deployed to Sudan.

REZKI ALVIONITASARI