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Site of the Bali bomb blast
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By
IOL
Southeast
Asia
Correspondent
JAKARTA
,
Nov 15 (IslamOnline) - Indonesians are beginning to feel the heat of
the aftermath of the terror act in
Bali
that caused the death of 190 people, the majority of which were
Australians, an analyst said Friday, November 15.
Wahyu
Susilo, Executive
Secretary of the Consortium to Defend Indonesian Migrant Workers
(KOPBUMI), based in
Jakarta
said the Australian
authorities raids against Indonesian Muslims were part of the after
effect of the
Bali
bombing.
Susilo
said the raids against the specific houses were conducted because the
occupants of the houses were once involved in and were present in a
Holy Qur’an recitation in which Abu Bakar Bayshir, the alleged
terror suspect, was invited.
He
added that the suspicions these Indonesians were members of the Jemaah
Islamiyah (JI) surfaced after the
Bali
bombing on
October 12, 2002
, adding that this was only
one of the after effects the
Bali
incident is having on
Indonesians.
Susilo
added that 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.
Another
commentator said Indonesian and other Muslim women were singled out in
Indonesia
and
Singapore
in some instances, whereas
in
Malaysia
, Indonesian women were not
attacked most probably because the country is majority Muslim and most
Indonesians working in
Malaysia
are Muslims.
“Women
wearing the scarf were the target of racist labeling in
Sydney
and other parts of
Australia
immediately after the
Bali
incident, showing how
difficult it is to live in non-Muslim nations,” an Indonesian author
known by his pen name, Alim said.
While
Indonesian Muslim migrants in
Australia
have lost their peace, in
Singapore
the authorities is said to
be working on plans to tighten searches on Indonesian nationals
visiting the tiny rich
Island
.
Singapore
strongly believes Bayshir
is the spiritual leader of the JI and he is high on the wanted list of
the
Singapore
police. The JI is, since
last week, on the list of South East Asian terror group of the UN.
Both
Alim and Susilo claims the Australian and Singaporean governments will
use the terrorism “pretext” to curb on Indonesian visitors and
migrants. They said
Malaysia
has already done so since
July this year.
Indonesia
as a nation will also
suffer from the effects of the
Bali
blast with a serious dip in
the number of tourists visiting the largest Muslim nation on earth.
Indonesia
has already registered a
fall in tourism figures and this will in turn affect the country’s
Gross National Product (GNP), sources said.
The
two analysts said the South East Asian authorities are now governed
with extreme phobia against Muslim migrants, particularly from
Indonesia
while Susilo says this
helps these governments to legitimize “the racist and xenophobic
tendencies in efforts to contain terrorism.”
He
cites the actions taken by the
U.S.
authorities right after
9/11/2001
calling the measures
against migrant Muslims “intolerant and a violation of human
rights,”
Susilo
singled out
Malaysia
and
Singapore
, two countries he says has
developed these prejudices against Indonesian Muslims.
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), he said.
“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 anti-terrorist policy should be
able to legitimize either cruel assaults against migrants or
intolerant policies based on racism and xenophobia, “said Susilo
with force.
In
a statement to IslamOnline, Alim said it was clear that the world is
now insecure for Muslims to live in, especially after the media
bashing that only Muslims were behind terror acts.
“The
world must give a chance to Muslims, we are not terrorists and this
will be proven in the long run,” the author of a new book on
terrorism and Islam said.
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