Sgt. Maj. Suharno, a commissioned village security supervisor with the Indonesian Military, is examining the identity of a passenger of a timber ship heading to Sebatik Island, North Kalimantan, at Dei Jepun Pier, Nunukan, on Wednesday (21/6). The inspection is part of a tightening of border area controls to prevent members of the Maute militia from entering Indonesian territory from the Philippines.
The sky was cloudy. Sgt. Maj. Suharno walked toward the passengers of a wooden boat that landed at Sei Jepun Dock in Nunukan regency, North Kalimantan, on Wednesday (21/6), checking their identity cards one by one.
The member of the village supervisory non-commissioned officers (Babinsa) from Military Command District 0911/Nunukan closely scrutinized the passengers arriving from Binalawan Port, West Sebatik district, North Kalimantan, mainly those who were not the residents of Sei Jepun. He also checked the passengers’ belongings. He checked the name, address and photograph printed on the ID card.
The month-long security check was the realization of a directive from Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters to all commanders at border crossings to heighten their monitoring of new arrivals. The directive was made in response to the potential threat of infiltration by members of the Maute group from the southern Philippines, who might leave Marawi City in Mindanao and merge with refugees.
Furthermore, the commander of Indonesian Naval Base XIII Tarakan has declared emergency status in Nunukan and Sebatik. The two islands border Tawau, Malaysia, and lie close to the Philippines’ Taw-Tawi Islands.
Sei Jepun Dock is one of the crossing points between Nunukan and Sebatik Island. The dock attracts many people, as it was one of the ports that serve people and motorbikes. A wooden boat measuring 5 x 2 meters can accommodate 15 people and 3 motorbikes.
The wooden boats plying the two islands provide access for people on Nunukan and Sebatik to get daily supplies. The travel time between Nunukan and Sebatik is around 15-20 minutes.
The tight monitoring of visitors from outside Nunukan is also being conducted by Tunon Taka Port Sector Police. The port is an entry point for large vessels from eastern Indonesia heading to Tawau, Malaysia.
On Tuesday (20/6) evening at 8:30 p.m., Tunon Taka Port Police chief Adj. Comr. Ibrahim Eka Berlin led the monitoring operation on the KM Bukit Siguntang from Tarakan. After around 300 passengers disembarked at Tunon Taka Port, police officers carried out a random identity check.
Two Tunon Taka Police officers had three pages of a document that contained the passport information of six Indonesian citizens on the National Police’s wanted list (DPO) for their affiliation with the Maute militia.
Aside from checking the faces of the passengers and matching them with their passport photographs, Tunon Taka Police officers also instructed passengers to report to state security personnel if they came across the six wanted men. The joint military-police team also heightened communications with migrant worker agencies in Nunukan to anticipate terrorists from the Philippines in disguise. “Every single piece of information related to the six wanted suspects, no matter how small, will be followed up,” said Berlin.
The identities of the wanted Maute militants were also distributed at checkpoints in 17 locations along the Indonesian-Malaysian border in Sebatik. Each officer of Border Security Task Force Unit 611/Awang Long carried copies of the passport identity page for the six wanted militiamen.
Nunukan Naval Base commander Lt. Col. Ari Aryono said his office had also carried out counter-radicalism and state defense awareness programs among fishermen in the waters of Sebatik, particularly in Sei Taiwan and Sei Nyamuk. Identity checks were also conducted at Sebatik Island.
Sumarno, 55, a Nunukan resident, welcomed the joint security operation. He said the public presence of state security personnel could reduce the people’s worries over the Islamic State terrorist threat from the Philippines.
Limitations
The tightened security in Nunukan and Sebatik is reasonable, because 11 Indonesian citizens, six of whom are wanted militants, are thought to have fled to Marawi onboard the KM Labuan Ekspress Lima on Nov. 15, 2016. They left Nunukan for Tawau, and then crossed into Philippine territory.
Is the tightened security in the two islands strict enough? Suharno, for example, had solitary guard duty at Sei Jepun Dock that he had to manage his time in attending to other jobs. He works at the dock for three to five hours a day in the morning and afternoon.
At noon, he managed other tasks related to the military command’s food security. “Because of the information on anticipating terrorists from the Philippines, I have to divide my time between guard duty at the dock and supporting the food security program,” Suharno said.
The limited number of personnel is a problem in the area. When Kompas arrived Sei Jepun Dock at Binalawan Dock in western Sebatik on Wednesday afternoon, no security personnel were in sight. Only a dozen or so people were waiting for the arrival of the ship to transport their luggage and motorbikes.
Majiz, 60, a fisherman who owns a wooden boat in Bambangan, said security checks were conducted in the mornings and afternoons. All other times, the traditional dock was busy with coolies and fishermen offering ferrying services.
According to an intelligence officer at Nunukan Naval Base, the limited number of security personnel was the main obstacle to conducting routine security checks over 24 hours. Based on this, Ari said, his office had increased communication with people and officers from related agencies to collect information from the border.
Security checks at entryways to the Land of the Garuda must receive more serious attention, given that the threat of terrorists seeping over from the Philippines is in plain view.
