FILE PHOTO: Motorists using a bridge connecting Batam with surrounding islands in 2023. Indonesian Police monitoring spread of radical groups in Batam Police alertness is based on migration and dispersion theory, which purports that foreign terrorist fighters may return to their countries of origin when radical groups lose their territories or when a situation is stabilised. - AFP
JAKARTA: The police are on alert, facing the possible spread of radical groups to the South-East Asia region, including Batam, with the stabilising conditions in the Middle East after a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Batam, Rempang and Galang (Barelang) City Police chief Sr. Comr. Zainal Arifin said the alertness had been materialised in several anticipative measures, such as tightening the supervision of migration gateways in coordination with the Batam Immigration Office, although no specific threat was identified.
“Barelang City Police are always actively conducting coordination and dialogue with the Batam regional office of the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Batam branch of Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and Batam Preachers Association,” Zainal told The Jakarta Post on Saturday (Oct 18).
“If there is any indication [of exposure to radicalism], we work with the Religious Affairs Ministry and MUI to provide enlightenment by ulema, who have better religious knowledge.”
According to Zainal, police alertness is based on migration and dispersion theory, which purports that foreign terrorist fighters may return to their countries of origin when radical groups lose their territories or that when a situation is stabilised, they may spread to other regions.
While the Gaza Peace Summit brought hopes of peace, the Indonesian security apparatus are also observing its impacts, including the spread of groups who may have lost their bases of operation.
“The theory is one of our references as an anticipative measure,” Zainal said. “Considering our closeness with member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation [OIC]. If there is conflict in an OIC member state, it will have an impact on our country.”
He added that the police also work together with police forces in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore through a cooperation initiative arranged by the National Police headquarters.
“If the Singaporean authorities, for example, reject the entry of a suspected Indonesian and slap a NTL [Not to Land] stamp on the passport, they would inform us of this,” Zainal said. “We will then conduct interviews and monitor the person in Batam as an anticipatory measure.”
Zainal also said that Barelang City Police were closing gaps used by illegal migrant workers to prevent their use by radical groups. “We are closing the exit route for illegal migrant workers through traditional ports and strengthening supervision at Batu Ampar and Nongsa ports,” he said.
He acknowledged that perpetrators of several terror cases in Indonesia used Batam as their transit point. But since the illegal access points were closed, such occurrences have been reduced.
Meanwhile, Batam MUI chairman Luqman Rifa’i highlighted Batam’s vulnerabilities as a border city which faced various complexities, from drugs to unrecognised minor sects. He said Batam MUI recorded two former terrorism convicts who live in Batam.
MUI also recorded eight sects who are not recognised in Indonesia as legal entities, such as Shiism, Ahmadiyya, Gafatar, An Nadzir and Al Nadzir Minallah, which are under state observation.
Luqman also said special attention is given to individuals or teachings that are forbidden in Malaysia and Singapore but have attempted to enter the country through Batam. To anticipate such developments, MUI promulgates a form of wassatiyah (moderate Islam) through their preachers.
“A soft approach and dialogue becomes a priority in handling heretic sects with the aim to get them to the true path because not all cases can be handled by a legal justice approach,” he said. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
