Poso Needs an Early Warning System

This was conveyed by Senior Researcher PPIM UIN Jakarta and Convey Indonesia, Jajang Jahroni PhD in a workshop entitled “Handling Radicalism and Strategies for Strengthening Youth Roles in Peace Building in Poso” at Hotel Kartika Poso, Tuesday (23/1).

“An early warning system needs to be built in Poso by involving all components of society. The government and apparatus do not have sufficient capacity to oversee the entire Poso area. With the active involvement of the community, it can be prevented from entering outside groups, including drug smuggling and terrorist groups, “said Jajang.

Deputy Regent of Poso Samsuri supports Jajang’s opinion. He said that Poso is currently increasingly open with more road access. This infrastructure is expected to further increase economic growth and attract more investors to Poso. During the conflict, several community groups from outside brought new religious understandings to Poso. The people of Poso accept them because of the conflict context.

“However, post-conflict becomes a problem because many outsiders carry radical understandings. Terrorism also occurs in Poso as an excess of the conflict. It is our collective responsibility to overcome radicalism and terrorism, “he said.

Deputy Regent Samsuri added that the people of Poso want to return to a normal and peaceful life. They hope that the actions of a small group of terrorist groups will not disturb the post-conflict peace and development conditions.

“We are sure that togetherness and unity between social elements of society will strengthen Poso, Sintuwu Maroso (if we unite, we will be strong). There were many delegates from Riau, Tarakan, Bekasi who came to Poso to learn about religious harmony and conflict resolution. Poso is now an example of how relationships between religions can keep peace more permanently, “said Samsuri.

Iskandar, a member of the Poso Regency DPRD, stated that the emergence of radicalism today cannot be separated from the context of the past conflicts in Poso. Therefore, we need to place radicalism and terrorism in Poso in a different context from terrorism in Java.

“Poso needs justice as part of its efforts to maintain peace. Much of the Malino Declaration has yet to be realized. Moreover, social reintegration is not complete at this time, and Community segregation still occurs. The vision of the Regional Government for 2016-2021 also wants to resolve the problem of radicalism and terrorism in Poso by involving all community groups, “he added.

Meanwhile, the Poso Police emphasized that Poso security requires the roles and responsibilities of all parties. There is still a remnant of the Santoso group who needs a social reintegration process through the role of the community.

This workshop was carried out by the Poso Civil Society Strengthening Institute (LPMS) in collaboration with the Center for Middle East Studies and Global Peace (PSTPG) FISIP UIN Jakarta, the Center for Study of Islam and Community (PPIM) UIN Jakarta, Convey Indonesia and UNDP.

This activity is the best practice from the study since 1 August 2017 December 2017 related to Assessment of Youth Economic Programs and Efforts to Combat Radicalism and Terrorism in five cities, five provinces in Indonesia: Poso-Central Sulawesi, Nunukan-North Kalimantan, Solo-Central Java, Lamongan. -East Java, and Medan-North Sumatra.

The workshop was opened by the Regent of Poso, represented by the Deputy Regent of Poso Samsuri and several panels. The first panel was “Portrait of the Problem of Extremism and Efforts to Address it at the National and Local Levels” with speakers from the Deputy Regent of Poso, Samsuri, Jajang Jahroni, PhD (Senior Researcher at PPIM UIN Jakarta and Convey Indonesia), Iskandar (DPRD Poso Regency), and the Head of Poso Police.

The second panel “The Role of Civil Society Organizations, Religious Organizations and Educational Institutions in Counteracting Radicalism and Strategies for Strengthening the Role of Youth in Peace Building in Poso,” presented the speaker Badrus Sholeh, Ph.D (Director of PSTPG FISIP UIN Jakarta), Gus Ibrahim (STAI Poso) , Adriany Badrah, M.Si (Director of Celebes Institute and Lecturer at Tadulako University, Palu). The third panel is “Sharing is Best Practices; Deradicalization and Social Reintegration by Former Perpetrators of Extremist Violence “presented speakers Ustaz Hasanuddin (Caregivers of the Amanatul Ummah Foundation and Former Poso Napiter) and Arifuddin Lako (Director of Rumah Katu and former Napiter Poso).

The workshop was attended by more than 100 people consisting of government agencies, NGOs, youth, lecturers, teachers, students and students.

On the second panel, Badrus Sholeh stated that today’s workshop was the presentation of the results of a study for more than six months since 1 August 2017 in Poso and four other cities in Indonesia on evaluation and essays on youth economic empowerment related to counter violent extremism through in-depth interviews. towards more than 100 respondents.

“Poso as a post-conflict area has challenges in how former combatants and former terrorists are integrated into society. They have received economic assistance from the BNPT, the Public Works Service, the Poso Cooperative and UKM Service as part of socio-economic reintegration, ”said Badrus.

Lack of monitoring and supervision of economic assistance, he said, made the economic program ineffective for former terrorists and former combatants. Economic aid is used up as a consumptive need.

Ibrahim and Adriyani Badrah also argued that the reintegration of former terrorists and combatants needs to involve the community and educational institutions. Some former combatants can go to college on scholarships which are positive for their future.

In the last panel, Hasanuddin (caretaker of the Amanatul Ummah Foundation) said that Poso people must do the solving of the Poso problem themselves. Radicalism in Poso is different from Java. When former terrorist convicts come out of prisons the community welcomes them with open arms. They are heroes. Therefore, it is important to see the context of the conflict in understanding radicalism in Poso.

Hasanuddin admitted that he was sentenced to 20 years in prison because he was suspected of being involved in an act of terrorism. He believes that maintaining peace in Poso requires shared awareness and maintaining justice for all.

Arifuddin Lako alias Brur, a former terrorist who is now active in a social community involving all young people from across religions, argues that there is a need for collective responsibility in building Poso so that the image of conflict and radicals no longer exists. Brur stated that Rumah Katu deliberately made a short film that became a lesson for young people today about past experiences of conflict and radicalism that must be abandoned.