Jabar Ekspres – Terrorism observer from Indonesian Terrorist Watch Al Chaidar asked ASEAN countries to develop a research/study institute on fundamentalist and terrorist groups for security resilience.
Al Chaidar in Kulon Progo Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region, when contacted on Saturday, said ASEAN is a vulnerable region in terms of security where proxy wars are easily ignited.
“Radicals and terrorists are still freely passing between borders,” said Al Chaidar.
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He said cases of tamkin terrorism or territorial and organic terrorism, such as the East Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT) in Poso and the Free Papua Organization/Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) in Papua, and other movements were still embers. Currently, he said, the OPM is even seen openly.
For this reason, he explained, ASEAN needs to develop research institutions on fundamentalist and terrorist groups.
This, he explained, is because proxy wars usually enter through fundamentalist and terrorist groups that can infiltrate various lines of society.
He said if ASEAN countries were left behind in this regard, they would become targets and toys of products and programs made by security contractors, such as the RAND Corporation and so on.
“Therefore, having study centers and universities that focus on fundamentalism and terrorism is essential to be developed in the ASEAN organization,” he said.
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Al Chaidar hopes that Indonesia needs to reject the use of the Pegasus Spyware from the state of Israel which can threaten civil liberties and can set back democracy.
“This must be reviewed for national security and resilience,” he said.
