Indonesian authorities eye radical students | Asia News Network

Indonesian authorities eye radical students | Asia News Network
The Jakarta Post, June 26, 2012

The Indonesian government is upping the ante in its efforts to protect its citizens studying in the Middle East and Pakistan from falling prey to radical teachings.

The Religious Affairs Ministry and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) have said that students exposed to extremist teachings might exacerbate the increasing number of incidents involving radicalism and intolerance at home. 

For the last three years, the ministry, for example, has vetted students wishing to study religion abroad by requiring an endorsement from the ministry. 

The endorsement was represented as one of several documents that students were required to submit when applying for a visa from a host nation.

In reality, nations hosting Indonesian students have no mandatory requirements for endorsements from the ministry, and the Indonesian government has no statutory authority over the issuance of foreign visas. 

"Such recommendations are not mandatory for host countries. However, there’s been an understanding between Indonesia and the countries to have such a requirement in order for the visa to be processed smoothly and for us to gather student data," Mastuki HS, the Religious Affairs Ministry’s institutional division chief at the directorate general of Islamic higher education, said yesterday.

Mastuki claimed that the recommendation requirement did not ban study in specific countries, saying that the ministry was on the lookout for radical activities in Yemen, Pakistan and Libya. 

"We want to cut the links between Indonesia and radical groups abroad. If universities are known to have links to radical groups or the countries are experiencing a period of political upheaval, we will deny the recommendation requests and advise the students to go elsewhere," Mastuki said. 

Based on information from the education attaches at Indonesian embassies and consulates, more than 8,000 Indonesians studied in the Middle East and Pakistan as of last year, with the lion’s share studying in Egypt and Yemen, the Education and Culture Ministry said. 

Although Indonesia has not seen any major terrorist attacks since the 2009 bombing of the JW Mariott and Ritz Carlton hotels, radicalism and intolerance have grown. 

Among the examples are the repeated persecution of members of the Ahmadiyah and Shiite minority Muslim sects, the closing of churches in West Java and Aceh of Indonesia and the violence and threats perpetrated by members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) that have gone unanswered by the authorities. 

Further, several high-profile clerics with terrorist ties were exposed to radical groups while they studying overseas. 

BNPT chairman Insp. Gen. (ret.) Ansyaad Mbai said the agency was regularly updated on Indonesian student activities by the nation’s embassies in the Middle East and Pakistan.

Mbai said the agency also cooperated with other nations, including Egypt, India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, to monitor Indonesian students. 

"We have bilateral joint working groups with those countries. We share intelligence information, conduct joint trainings and other activities," he said. 

According to Mbai, the BNPT has been closely monitoring Indonesian students who joined radical groups overseas after they returned to Indonesia. 

"We will keep an eye on them. We will monitor their activities and their partners here. Should they violate the law, we will not hesitate to detain them," Mbai said.