REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, YOGYAKARTA -- Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno has urged immigration authorities to tighten checks on Indonesian citizens traveling to the Middle East, particularly Turkey.
"Check carefully the data of people who show any indication of moving there," Tedjo said after delivering the keynote address at the second national oration at Gadjah Mada University here on Monday.
According to him, the step to tighten security checks has been taken to anticipate the possibility of Indonesian citizens joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
"This does not mean we ban people from traveling abroad, including the Middle East, for studies," he added.
He remarked that the National Police and the State Intelligence Board (BIN) have the data of Indonesian citizens who are likely to join ISIS. "The data will be sent to immigration authorities to prevent those citizens from traveling abroad," he explained.
Citing BIN's observations, he pointed out that several local militant networks have been found to have links with international militant networks. "Admittedly, these networks are particularly prominent in Bima and Poso," he revealed.
Asked about 16 Indonesian citizens from Surabaya and Solo who have gone missing in Turkey and feared to have joined ISIS, he said he has sought clarification from the Indonesian Consulate General in Turkey about their whereabouts.
"Based on a report from the Indonesian embassy in Turkey, it is believed they have gone there (joined ISIS group)," he pointed out.
Indonesia has been continuing intensive efforts to trace the 16 citizens who vanished during their visit to Turkey and are feared to have joined the ISIS group.
"There were 24 people on the tour to Turkey and 16 of them have gone missing. We are still searching for them," Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir noted here last Friday.
He added that the majority of the missing Indonesians were from Surabaya (East Java), while the remaining ones were from Surakarta (Central Java).
Arrmanatha explained that soon after their arrival in Istanbul, they separated from the tour group and did not visit the tourist locations that were outlined in the tour schedule.
"They said they would not stay with the group during the tour but would visit the locations on their own and later join the group in a certain city before returning to Indonesia," he added.
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