Jakarta: The government has decided not to repatriate Indonesian sympathisers of the Islamic State (IS) movement who are currently outside the country, saying that it would prioritise the safety of the hundreds of millions of Indonesians at home against what a minister described as a “virus”.
The decision came after Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD met other relevant authorities, such as the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Law and Human Rights Ministry, earlier on Tuesday, before presenting options to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in a closed-door Cabinet meeting later that day.
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