Effective laws needed to deal with the threat of terrorism

To deal with the threat of terrorism, we must have effective laws with teeth to bite. Otherwise it can become a losing game.

We learn from PM Lee Hsien Loong's interview with Wall Street Journal that Indonesia does not have laws to deal with citizens who want to go to the Middle East. They cannot stop any Indonesian from doing so. They also do not have laws that allow them to detain people verified to have intentions to carry out terrorist activities.

 

Excerpt from interview:

The Indonesians also have a very serious problem. They have maybe 500, maybe more, who are in the Middle East. They go up on ‘hijrah’, that means they actually migrate there and bring their women and children along with them to participate in this. Some come back, some more want to go, sometimes, they are stopped. Nothing can be done about those who want to go in Indonesia because their laws do not cover this. We have stopped several who have come through Singapore to whitewash their travel records, in order to make it to the Middle East undetected. We have picked them up, verified their intentions, sent them back to Indonesia, told the Indonesians. The Indonesians picked them up, verified it, sent them back to the village and let them go! There is nothing more they can do. So, they will try again and some will get through. - PM Lee Hsien Loong