Police warn of terrorism threat behind illegal immigrant issue

Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 01/05/2010 9:39 PM

The National Police has found early indications that might link the current influx of foreign immigrants, who enter this country illegally, with terrorism, chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said Tuesday.

“We received early intelligence information that shows these immigrants might be followed by those who share a relationship with some terrorist organizations,” Ito said.

“As of now, I have to acknowledge we are still in the dark about the backgrounds of these immigrants, especially those from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka,” he said.

“We will immediately follow up the intelligence report by working with our counterparts from other agencies [such as the immigration office] to avoid potential terrorist attacks,” he said.

However, Ito refused to provide a detailed explanation when asked about the police’s strategy to detect terrorism behind the illegal immigration issue.

Currently, there are several groups of foreign refugees from war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka who are in the country. These refugees have usually chosen to leave their home countries saying they believed they would not be able to live normal lives there.