Artifacts Returned by FBI, Yet Why Does Cultural Object Smuggling Still Occur?

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Minister of Culture Fadli Zon has affirmed that the government will strengthen efforts to prevent the smuggling of Indonesian cultural objects abroad by improving coordination with relevant ministries and agencies, particularly the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, the Directorate General of Immigration, and law enforcement officials at the country’s exit points.

According to Fadli, regulations on the protection of cultural heritage objects are already in place. However, the main challenge now is ensuring that supervision in the field becomes more effective through inter-agency synergy, whether by land, sea, or air.

“As for prevention, the rules actually already exist. But this really requires cooperation with ministries and agencies, especially perhaps Customs and Immigration,” Fadli said at a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

Fadli cited the supervision system implemented by Egypt as an example of a country that has successfully protected its ancient civilisational heritage from smuggling practices. According to him, every item carried by passengers leaving through airports is strictly inspected, even souvenirs purchased by tourists.

“They are extremely strict. As soon as you leave the airport there, everything is checked, even souvenirs are inspected. Many of the things sold there — stones, replicas of deities, replicas of Pharaohs, and so on — are all checked. They have experts at every port,” Fadli said.

The presence of such experts, he continued, enables the Egyptian authorities to quickly distinguish between replicas sold legally and genuine cultural objects protected by the state.

Fadli said a similar approach is one of the models Indonesia will study. Beyond strengthening coordination with relevant agencies, the government also considers it important to prepare human resources with specialist competence in identifying cultural heritage objects at the country’s various exit points.

“If it is a souvenir, there is no problem; it is still made by our craftsmen and I think it makes a very good collectable. But items that are cultural heritage are what we must prevent from leaving, and we will work together on that,” he said.

Fadli’s statement came a day after President Prabowo Subianto received a courtesy visit from the Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kash Patel, at the Presidential Palace. The meeting served as one of the milestones in strengthening cooperation between Indonesia and the United States, including efforts to repatriate Indonesian cultural artefacts that have long been held abroad.