VOA慢速英语--Indonesia, Philippines Hold Talks on Security Cooperation

 

The Philippines and Indonesia are working together to stop supporters of the Islamic State terror group from entering the Philippines.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi recently met with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in the southern city of Davao for talks.

The discussion centered on Islamic State sympathizers in Indonesia going to the Philippines to join anti-government fighters.

Duterte and the Indonesian foreign minister agreed to additional cooperation in stopping terrorism. The website of the president’s office said they also discussed “maritime¹ security.”

Indonesia is mainly a Muslim country. It has so-called sleeper² cells of people who sympathize with the Islamic State. The extremist group has mainly been driven out of bases in Iraq and Syria.

The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group says that in 2016 Islamic State, or IS, picked a Filipino rebel as its leader in Southeast Asia. Reports, however, say that he was recently killed.

Some Indonesian sympathizers worked with Filipino rebels in a five-month war in the southern Philippines last year.

Philippine officials believe that Indonesians and also Malaysians went to the southern island Mindanao at that time. They are believed to have supported local rebels who sympathize with the Islamic State group. That fighting in the Philippines killed at least 1,127 people, including more than 900 militants³.

In October, Philippine troops declared victory over the Maute Group of Muslim rebels. The group had declared allegiance to Islamic State, which is also referred to as ISIS.

A police spokesman in Jakarta told reporters that at least 38 Indonesians were helping⁴ Philippine rebels as of last June. That is one month after fighting broke out in the Philippine city of Marawi.

Bibhu Routray is a visiting security and counter-terrorism professor at Murdoch University in Australia. He says some of the 40 to 50 foreign rebel supporters in Marawi had traveled from Indonesia to fight for Islamic State after the group called for volunteers.

Thirty Indonesians got there from Syria and it is believed they were sent by Islamic State, Routray said. He added that on their return home they went through the Philippines. He said this suggests that Islamic State sent them to fight in Marawi.

The Indonesian government said in November it would support the Philippine efforts to stop Islamic State in Marawi. In June, the same government had sent 119 police officers and 200 special forces to Sulawesi Island to help the army stop terrorists.

Philippine officials have warned against new Muslim rebel violence in Mindanao although they say Marawi is under control.

Eduardo Araral is an associate professor at the National University of Singapore. He said, “I think it’s logical that Indonesia should always keep its guards up, because they know for a fact that their main sleeper cells around Indonesia are waiting for opportunities to come.”

About 20 Muslim rebel groups operate in Mindanao. The large island is rich in resources by economically poor.

People there say the majority Catholic country has taken a lopsided share of resources although there are many Muslims on the island.

Violence has killed about 120,000 people on Mindanao since the 1960s.

The Straits Times of Singapore online newspaper reports that Islamic State “sleeper cells” operate in most Indonesian provinces.

The extremist Islamic group East Indonesia Mujaheedin recruits young people on Sulawesi Island. It has promised to support Islamic State.

Experts say there is a lack of security patrols in the Celebes Sea. The body of water south of Mindanao and east of Borneo.

But Indonesia and the Philippines do have reached maritime agreements before.

They signed an agreement in 2014 after twenty years of talks on formal boundaries around their economic zones in the Celebes Sea.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

Maritime – adj. of or relating to sailing on the sea or doing business (such as trading) by sea

Sleeper cell – n. group of sympathizers in hiding

Allegiance - n. loyalty⁵ to a person, country, group, etc.

Resource – n. something that a country has and can use to increase its wealth

Lopsided – adj. uneven⁶ or unequal

Recruits –v. to get someone to join a group, service or company

Patrols –n. a group of people, vehicles, etc., that go through an area to make sure that it is safe

1 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

2 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

6 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。