Terrorism's indirect victims

Wahyu Susilo, Executive Secretary Consortium to Defend Indonesian Migrant Workers (KOPBUMI), Jakarta

In the last couple of weeks, Indonesian Muslim migrants in Australia have lost their peace as the Australian security authorities have raided and searched at least 10 homes due to their suspected involvement in the terrorist network Jamaah Islamiyah.

These raids and searches have been conducted because they once were involved in and were present in a Koran recital session in which Abu Bakar Ba'asyir (the alleged leader of a Southeast Asian group on the UN terror list) was invited.

This suspicion has surfaced following the deaths of many Australian tourists in the bombing in Bali on Oct. 12, 2002.

Elsewhere, five Indonesian citizens intending to attend an invitation to Mexico also received discriminatory treatment. They were refused entry and later deported without any clear reason.

For the Australian government, this act is proper as a preventive measure against terrorists who, as Australian Prime Minister John Howard is convinced, have been gearing up for an attack on the territory of Australia and its citizens.

Howard's pretext shows extreme phobia against Muslim migrants (particularly from Indonesia) and legitimizes the racist and xenophobic tendencies in efforts to contain terrorism.

The Australian government's intolerant measures against migrants have been and are being taken by the U.S. government, which went into panic mode following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Reports from a number of human rights organizations and some Arab organizations in the U.S. show that some migrants hailing from the Middle East and Asia have become targets of intolerant measures taken by both the government and the community. Under the name of an antiterrorism drive, the U.S. has tightened the procedure for the entry of foreigners.

It is undeniable that prejudices against aliens, particularly from the Middle East and Asia are running deep now. The case of Agus Budiman was similar to those of Muslim migrants from Indonesia in Australia.

Malaysia and Singapore have also developed these prejudices against Muslim Indonesians. The Malaysian government has tightened its immigration policies because of its fear for and suspicion of aliens (particularly Indonesians) establishing relations with Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (Malaysian Mujahidin Group). Singapore has even refused the entry of hundreds of Indonesian migrant workers setting off by ferry from Batam.

Ironically, intolerant measures based on racist and xenophobic prejudices under the name of antiterrorism were demonstrated only a few days after the Durban Declaration of Sept. 8, 2001, which confirmed the global commitment against racist and xenophobic practices and all forms of intolerance.

The Durban Declaration was the output of the World Conference Against racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. This UN-organized conference confirmed that intolerant acts constituted violations of human rights.

Actually, the First World, particularly the United States, showed their reluctance to attend the conference, especially the previous preparatory committee, which made Zionism (belief in a Jewish homeland) one of the main items in the agenda of the conference. This agenda, the objective of which was the offensive acts by Israel -- a loyal friend of the U.S. -- was apparently rejected by the U.S. Therefore, during the conference, the U.S. delegation was harshly criticized.

The attacks on Sept. 11 and the bombings in Bali on Oct. 12 were terrorist acts that must be condemned. However, it does not necessarily follow that an antiterrorist policy should be able to legitimize either cruel assaults against migrants or intolerant policies based on racism and xenophobia.

Gabriela Rodriguez Pizzaro, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, reported that after the Sept. 11 tragedy, migrants were subjected to a xenophobic backlash. Pizzaro said the preventive measures taken by the U.S. government had become excessive and tended to violate the rights of migrants. These migrants have found themselves in a vulnerable situation following Sept. 11. Thousands of migrants have lost their jobs. Hundreds of Afro-Arabs and Asians in the United States have been arbitrarily detained. It is no exaggeration, therefore, to say that migrants are the indirect victims of terrorism.