Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) - an Islamic extremist organization - began their activities towards the beginning of the 1990s in Indonesia, actively engaged in terrorist activities with Indonesia as its base. Drawn from this organization, another Islamic extremist organization known as Laskar Hisbah, was born in the central part of Indonesia, Java Island. Towards the middle of 2010s, following a massive exposure of undergoing terrorist plans in relation to the Islamic State, many of them were arrested. Regarding their close ties to the Islamic State and its organizational function, they have been seen as a key to counter-terrorism for security in Asia. Recent concerns of the society is the rise of another Islamic extremist group, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), conducting terrorist attacks sporadically.
In such a situation, captured members of the Islamic extremist groups have been steadily released from prison. However, lack of support in prison towards their radical ideologies have many times resulted in a worsened case. The needs of soft power has been pointed out by the local force, not to mention the fact that many of them have returned into a similar community of radicals, where financial and social integration has not seen any progress.
Based on local needs, in Surakarta, Central Java, we have been implementing de-radicalization and reintegration programs to former violent extremist members, who have been released from prison. Most of the participants of the project have been involved in cases of suicide bombings, and we are currently accepting former members of of Jemaah Islamiyah, Al-Qaeda Indonesia, and Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, centrally targeting Laskar Hisbah.