Indonesian authorities urged to decide about the custody of kids of Islamic State terrorists

The government must decide on who will be the caretakers of children of Islamic State (IS) followers once they are brought back from abroad.

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission said anyone below 18 is considered a child and the government needs to look into their welfare, according to kompas.com.

Retno Listyari of the commission said this included children of IS followers who were bound to return to Indonesia as orphans.

“The government must decide who will get custody of these children when they arrive in Indonesia,” Retno said, adding that the government was obliged to put the children in the custody of their closest relatives.

This is in accordance with Government Regulation (PP) No. 44/2017 on foster care for children, she said.

“If the closest relatives cannot take care of them, then the children must be adopted by another family, or put under the state’s custody if no one can take them.”

Citing data from the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud M. D. said 689 Indonesians had been identified as IS sympathisers in Syria and Turkey, as well as other countries.

It said 228 people held identification as Indonesian citizens while others did not have proper documents to prove their citizenship.

Indonesian authorities have suggested that most of the Indonesian IS supporters were women and children.

While asserting that the government has banned Indonesian IS followers from returning home, President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, said the government was mulling a plan to bring home orphans under 10.

“But we don’t know if there are any,” Jokowi said recently.

Retno expressed appreciation for Jokowi’s willingness to bring orphans back to Indonesia, but criticised his decision to limit the age to those under 10.

Source: NST