Hanoi (VNA) – Indonesia is reportedly facing a growing threat of children being radicalised – either from exposure to extremist views online or from bad influence from adults.
The country’s Social Affairs Ministry recently released 161 people who had completed the government's rehabilitation and deradicalisation programme. Almost half of them were children.
The ministry's social rehabilitation director Nahar said the children had been exposed to extremist ideologies through their parents, who were already linked to radical groups, particularly the Islamic State (IS) organisation in Iraq and Syria.
The National Police and the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT) have been closely monitoring all people, including children, who have shown an interest in going to Syria.
The BNPT also recently signed an agreement with the Indonesian Child Protection Commission on rehabilitating children who had been exposed to radicalism.
More are expected to join the programme in the near future, Nahar said.
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