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Jakarta (Indonesia), 13 April 2016 - Recent attacks in Brussels and Jakarta highlight the common challenges of terrorism and violent extremism that Europe and Southeast Asia are facing. Effective international cooperation is the only way forward in countering the growing threats of terrorism and the flow of foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other Al-Qaeda splinter groups.
Representatives of Indonesia, UNODC and the European Union (EU) convened the 5th Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting in Jakarta on 1st April 2016 to review the outcomes of technical cooperation under the EU-UNODC Joint Initiative for Supporting Southeast Asian Countries to Counter Terrorism. The project, funded by the EU, was launched in 2012 and covers five Southeast Asian countries namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Vietnam. The PSC meeting is a whole-of-government platform to set a strategic guideline for the project and review the implementation's progress.
In his opening remarks, Police Inspector-General Dr. Petrus Reinhard Golose, the Deputy for International Cooperation of the Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), stressed the importance of a comprehensive approach against terrorism while reiterating the need to strengthen international cooperation to tackle FTF both at domestic and global levels. H.E. Mr. Vincent Guérend, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Indonesia, complimented the project's success in bringing about concrete results and expressed the EU's readiness to continue the cooperation with Indonesia to fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
The 5th PSC meeting was chaired by Brigadier-General (Marine) Yuniar Ludfi, BNPT and Mr. Hernán Longo, UNODC Regional Programme Coordinator for Terrorism Prevention for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Nine government's agencies attended the meeting namely: BNPT, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (KEMLU), Ministry of Defence (KEMHAN), Indonesia State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Detachment 88 of Indonesia National Police (INP), Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), Bank of Indonesia (BI), Immigration Department, and National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS).
The participants took note of the project's outcomes and provided feedbacks on the project's implementation which encompass a broad-rage of areas including: a long-term training programme on countering the financing of terrorism (CFT); inter-agency collaboration; prevention and countering violent extremism (PVE/CVE). The plenary also encouraged UNODC to enhance technical assistance and suggested specific areas for future partnership.
During the meeting, Mr. Longo also presented the latest assessment of the FTF situation and cooperation within the UN frameworks to mitigate the threats. According to Mr. Longo, "with increased military capabilities, financial resources and global nexus, FTF presents serious security ramifications to the region. UNODC, together with
Mr. Collie Brown, the Country Manager and Liaison to ASEAN of the UNODC Programme Office in Indonesia, concluded by congratulating Indonesia for successful neutralisation of past attacks and acknowledging the sacrifice of counter-terrorism officials in the fight against terrorism. "As ASEAN is working towards more integration and member states' borders become more opening, the coordinated actions at the regional level to address transnational crimes and terrorism becomes more crucial than ever," said Mr. Brown.
