Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) - an Islamic extremist organisation - began their activities towards the beginning of the 1990s in Indonesia. They have been actively engaged in terrorist activities with Indonesia as its base. Drawn from this organisation, another Islamic extremist organisation known as Laskar Hisbah was born in the central part of Indonesia around Java. Towards the middle of the 2010s, following a massive exposure of undergoing terrorist plans in relation to the Islamic State, many of them were sent to prison. In regards to their close ties to the Islamic State, they have been seen as the key to counter-terrorism for security in Asia in terms of its organisational functions.

Many of Laskar Hisbah’s captured-members have recently been gradually released from prison but the lack of attention and support towards their radical ideologies have many times resulted in a worsened case. The needs toward soft power has been pointed out by the local force not to mention the fact that many of them have gone back into a similar community of radical extremism where financial and social reintegration haven’t made progress.

Based on the local needs, we have been implementing de-radicalization and reintegration programs to ex-terrorists of Laskar Hisbah who have been released in Surakarta, Central Java. Many of its participants have been involved in suicide bombings and we accept former members of Jemaah Islamiyah or Al Qaeda Indonesia in addition to those from Laskar Hisbah.