JAKARTA: Indonesia presses on with plans to hold a trilateral ulema conference scheduled to be held in Jakarta later this month, despite a call from the Taliban to boycott the meeting aimed to support the peace process in Afghanistan.
In a statement posted on their official website on Saturday, the Taliban described the peace process as “deceptive” efforts and that their enemies were going to trick respected Islamic scholars into gathering in Jakarta.
In a message they sent to Afghan, Pakistani, Indonesian and other Islamic countries scholars, the Taliban called on them to avoid participating in such conference.
“Do not afford an opportunity to the invading infidels in Afghanistan to misuse your name and participation in this conference as means of attaining their malicious objective,” the statement said.
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), which is tasked by the Indonesian government to host the meeting, said the trilateral conference is not aimed to lecture or patronize ulemas from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Maybe the Taliban is not well- informed and received the wrong information about the conference,” MUI’s head of international relations department, Muhyiddin Junaidi told Arab News.
“We just want to listen to them and share our experience in resolving conflicts. We also want to synchronize our procedures on issuing a fatwa,” Junaidi added.
He said the three countries will send 15 scholars each to attend the meeting, which was originally scheduled for March 15-16 but has been postponed to sometime later this month.
“We think that the ulemas proposed to attend the conference is not representative enough and does not include much of the Taliban,” he said.
MUI Secretary-General Anwar Abbas said they expect representatives from the Taliban to attend the meeting since this is part of the peace process efforts.
The Foreign Ministry’s director for the South and Central Asia region, Ferdy Piay, told Arab News that the ministry is aware of Taliban’s statement but declined to comment further, saying that the ministry will need to review the statement first.
“In principle, Indonesia continues to make preparations for the meeting,” Piay said.
In November, a delegation from the Afghan High Peace Council led by its chairman Karim Khalili came to Indonesia and held meetings with President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla during which the council asked Indonesia to support the peace process in Afghanistan through the role of the Ulema.
Last week, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that after the vice president’s meeting with several parties in Afghanistan in late February, they got a sense that all parties would be willing to accept Indonesia’s role in the peace process. Kalla was in Kabul to attend the Kabul Process conference where he was the guest of honor.
Kalla is credited to have played a crucial role in brokering the peace that ended decades-long secessionist conflict in Aceh and communal conflicts in other parts of the country.
“Indonesia is perceived as neutral and we don’t have direct political or economic interests. Moreover, Indonesia has a good track record in peace diplomacy and these are what makes Afghanistan ask Indonesia to contribute in peacebuilding and the peace process,” Marsudi told journalists after a meeting at MUI office on Wednesday with Kalla.
“We hope the meeting will result in agreement on how to make peace in Afghanistan,” Kalla said.
“None of the ulemas want to the war between Muslims to continue,” he added.
Taliban not ‘well-informed’ on peace conference, says Ulema Council in Indonesia
Taliban not ‘well-informed’ on peace conference, says Ulema Council in Indonesia
About 400 immigrant children were detained longer than the recommended limit, ICE admits
- A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September
- Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care
TEXAS, USA: Hundreds of immigrant children across the nation were detained for longer than the legal limit this summer, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has admitted in a court filing, alarming legal advocates who say the government is failing to safeguard children.
In a court filing Monday evening, attorneys for detainees highlighted the government’s own admissions to longer custody times for immigrant children, unsanitary conditions reported by families and monitors at federal facilities, and a renewed reliance on hotels for detention.
The reports were filed as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation of the 1990s cornerstone policy known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits the time children can spend in federal custody and requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The Trump administration is attempting to end the agreement.
A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September. They also told the court the problem was widespread and not specific to a region or facility. The primary factors that prolonged their release were categorized into three groups: transportation delays, medical needs, and legal processing.
Legal advocates for the children contended those reasons do not prove lawful justifications for the delays in their release. They also cited examples that far exceeded the 20-day limit, including five children who were held for 168 days earlier this year.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Hotel use for temporary detention is allowed by the federal court for up to 72 hours, but attorneys questioned the government’s data, which they believe did not fully explain why children were held longer than three days in hotel rooms.
Conditions at the detention facilities continued to be an ongoing concern since the family detention site in Dilley, Texas, reopened this year.
Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care. One child bleeding from an eye injury wasn’t seen by medical staff for two days. Another child’s foot was broken when a member of the staff dropped a volleyball net pole, according to the court filing. “Medical staff told one family whose child got food poisoning to only return if the child vomited eight times,” the advocates wrote in their response.
“Children get diarrhea, heartburn, stomach aches, and they give them food that literally has worms in it,” one person with a family staying at the facility in Dilley wrote in a declaration submitted to the court.
Chief US District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to have a hearing on the reports next week, where she could decide if the court needs to intervene.
