IPAC Report 59: Indonesia: Urgent Need for a Policy on Repatriation of Pro-ISIS Nationals from Syria

Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC)

[27 August 2019] Indonesia urgently needs to move forward on a policy for repatriating its nationals in Syrian camps and prison. The security situation is deteriorating, and the camps are becoming a new area for ISIS activity. The Indonesian government could begin now to repatriate some of its most vulnerable citizens (unaccompanied children, for example), while postponing any decision about some of the adults.

“Indonesia: Urgent Need for a Policy on Repatriation of Pro-ISIS Nationals from Syria”, the latest briefing from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), suggests that Indonesia, like other countries faced with the same dilemma about what to do about pro-ISIS nationals stranded in camps and prisons in Syria, can begin now to identify vulnerable groups and prepare pilot projects for return, rehabilitation and reintegration.

“There’s no need to wait for an all-encompassing policy to begin to bring back those most at risk,” says Sidney Jones, IPAC director. “The government doesn’t have to decide what to do about 200 people – it can start with five or ten.”