Terrorism's indirect victims

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.