Australia Likely to Fingerprint Indonesian Visitors

JAKARTA LIFE'S STYLE

A new Australian antiterrorism scheme focusing on visitors from 10 high-risk countries would likely include Indonesia, a terrorism expert said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in Sydney on Tuesday that Australia planned to fingerprint and scan the faces of visitors from 10 high-risk countries in an effort to combat extremism, which he dubbed a “permanent” threat.

“Terrorism continues to pose a serious threat and a serious challenge to Australia’s security interests. That threat is not diminishing,” Rudd said, while unveiling a counter-extremism white paper. “In fact, the government security intelligence agencies assess that terrorism has become a persistent and permanent feature of Australia’s security environment. These agencies warn that an attack could occur at any time.”

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia would delay naming the countries from which visa applicants would need to provide fingerprints and undergo facial scans, acknowledging that “diplomatic effort” with their governments might be needed.

However, Rudd said Somalia and Yemen had been identified as two countries where the threat of Islamic extremism was growing.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said there had been no talks with Indonesia regarding the issue, but the BBC reported that the counterterrorism white paper stated that despite Indonesia’s success in fighting terrorism in recent years, the attacks at two Jakarta hotels in July “point to an ongoing threat there.”

Noor Huda Ismail, executive director of the International Institute for Peacebuilding in Jakarta, said Indonesia was likely to be one of the 10 countries affected by the plan.

“It’s simple to see,” he said. “A number of terrorism attacks occurred in Indonesia in the past years, and most of the victims were Australians.”

A total of 95 Australians have been killed in terrorist attacks in Indonesia since October 2002. This includes the 88 killed in the 2002 Bali bombings, four in the 2005 Bali bombings and three in the twin hotel bombings in Jakarta last July.

In 2004, the Australian Embassy in Jakarta was also bombed.

Noor said there was ongoing concern among the international community about the threat of terrorism and the existence of a terrorist network in Indonesia.

Rudd added that Australia would spend $62 million on the new biometric facilities and would also create a national control center to coordinate efforts to fight extremism.

He also said Australia was concerned about the rising threat from home-grown militancy, just a week after five Sydney men received lengthy jail terms for planning a violent jihad attack.(thejakartaglobe)

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