Philippine marines stand guard as they show rifles, grenades, and military uniforms recovered in Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao on May 29, 2017. Security forces traded heavy gunfire with Islamist militants inside a southern Philippine city on May 29, as fears grew for up to 2,000 people unable to escape a week of fighting that has left women and children among the dead.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Indonesian government has to seriously strengthen its security operations along the sea border with the Philippines, as there is potential for Maute group members to flee to Indonesia. Moreover, as indicated by the Philippine military, a number of Maute combatants are from Indonesia.
The Philippine military reportedly managed to push back Maute militants and recapture areas of Marawi city, Mindanao Island, the southern Philippines, on Monday, May 29. Since last week, the Philippine military has deployed forces to seize Marawi from the control of the Maute group, which has declared its affiliation with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Helicopters equipped with rocket launchers struck Maute positions with the onslaught forcing Maute to lose control over a number of districts. According to the Philippine military, Maute still controls nine of the 96 districts in Marawi, 800 kilometers south of Manila.
Despite their setback, the presence of Maute members in Indonesia must be guarded against. A senior researcher of the Wahid Institute, Ahmad Suaedy, emphasized that the Indonesian government had to seriously strengthen its security operations along its sea border. He believed a number of Maute members have the potential to flee from the military operation in the Philippines to the Indonesian territory, especially in Sulawesi and Kalimantan.
They are eyeing Indonesia, as security along the sea border areas is considered weak. They will also take advantage of the close proximity and socio-economic history, carried out through trade networks, between the areas.
Contacted separately, Deputy Director of the Graduate Department of Bhayangkara University Suhardi, echoed similar thoughts. The possibility of Maute group members fleeing to Indonesia has to be closely watched. "Possibly they are associated with the BIFF group which is a breakaway group from MILF," said Suhardi, referring to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which broke from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
ISIS divergence
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto also emphasized the need to watch out for the spread of ISIS, which attempted to build a base in Marawi. He also gave a reminder of the roughly 500 Indonesian citizens who have joined ISIS in Syria and whose whereabouts are now unknown. "ISIS is spreading its ideology to the whole world, including Southeast Asia, such as is happening in the Philippines," he said.
Wiranto said ISIS activists came from many countries. This is in line with the group’s convergence strategy, which involves inviting people from foreign countries to join them before spreading again in line with their strategy of divergence.
The Philippine military said a number of foreign combatants were fighting for the Maute group. They were believed to come from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and a number of other countries. Philippine Military Commander Gen. Eduardo Ano said last Thursday that three Indonesian citizens were among the dead from the fighting in Mindanao.
As was quoted by AFP news agency, Ano added that the foreign combatants in the area were former members of the Jemaah Islamiyah group, which carried out the 2002 Bali bombing.
According to data from the Philippine government, the death toll from fighting in Marawi has reached 105 people, including 61 members of the Maute group, 20 soldiers and 24 civilians. Among the civilians are women and children.
In order to anticipate the movement of Maute members, the Philippine military has closed Ilagan, a city about 38 kilometers from Marawi. The city had started to fill with refugees from Marawi and local authorities feared Maute members would sneak in disguised as civilians.
Indonesian citizens
The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry has also confirmed there are a number of Indonesian citizens in Marawi. They are members of Jamaah Tabligh, and are conducting khuruj — 40 days of religious preaching— in the Philippines.
According to the Director of Protection of Indonesian Citizens of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Lalu M Iqbal, Philippine authorities knew of their presence. They total 16 people, divided into two groups, one of 10 and the other of six.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry also confirmed they had received information from the Philippines Armed Forces about Indonesian citizen casualties. "However, we have not been able to verify the information," Iqbal said.
Wiranto explained that the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) had been monitoring the involvement of Indonesian citizens in the southern Philippines and that now the government is focused on efforts to prevent any attempts to build an ISIS base in Indonesia.
Ahmad Suaedy suggested that the Indonesian government could offer assistance to resolve the conflict in Marawi. This is important, as many traditional Muslim communities in the southern Philippines are not linked to the radical groups.
"The government should pursue cultural communication with the Muslim community in the southern Philippines. These efforts can aid Muslim communities there to ensure the influence of radicalism and separatism on Muslims in the Philippines is eroded," he said.
