•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

About 200 “trained volunteers” from the People’s Democratic Defense are ready to “invade” Malaysia today, as scheduled, to protect Indonesian interests in the neighboring country.

“Nothing will keep us from doing it, including threats from the Malaysian National Security Council or the Indonesian Police,” Mustar Bona Ventura, the coordinator of the group, also known as Bendera, claimed in a news conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

He said 125 volunteers would follow on Oct. 11, and groups consisting of 125 to 400 people would do the same from Oct. 14 to 22, totaling about 1,500 by the end of the month. “They will enter Malaysia through channels that are unexpected by Malaysian authorities,” Mustar said.

Bonar added that 12 volunteers infiltrated Malaysia three weeks ago and were working with migrant workers. “Aside from the volunteers, there are already 8,000 Indonesian migrant workers who have committed to support what we do,” he said.

To fund their “war,” Mustar said that they borrowed money from their girlfriends, parents and neighbors.

Responding to an earlier statement by a Malaysian official that they would deploy more security officers along the borders of the two countries, Mustar said that they were not afraid and regarded it as an empty threat.

“It is not scaring anyone and even shows that the Malaysians fear Bendera,” he said.

He also criticized a previous statement from a police spokesman threatening to arrest Bendera activists who attack Malaysia .

Mustar said the police should instead support and protect them. “If the police consider our actions as a threat, then it will weaken our spirit to struggle and defend our country’s sovereignty,” he said.

“I think it is better for the police and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to honestly disclose the true number of Indonesians who have been tortured and murdered in Malaysia,” he added.

Responding to the statement, military spokesman Air Vice Marshall Sagom Tamboen said they would not deploy special forces to ban the Bendera activists from entering Malaysia.

He said that the current immigration officers and soldiers on duty along the borders were enough to keep them from attacking Malaysia. “Surely, our officers at the borders already know what to do. The officers will do what’s best, which in this case, is asking them to go home,” Tamboen said.

“If the intention is to illegally enter another country’s territory, then it can already be defined as an invasion. Rather than become a problem later on, it is better to abort the plan.”

However, Sagom did not deny his appreciation for the nationalistic spirit of Bendera.

“But if the action could be counterproductive and worsen relations between the two countries, we recommend that they reconsider the move,” he said.

Teguh Hendro Cahyono, the labor affairs attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, told the Jakarta Globe that he had not heard about the arrival of Bendera so far.

“Whoever comes here to stand and fight for the migrants are always welcome and they can coordinate with us to communicate this matter to the Malaysian government,” Cahyono said, adding that there had been some nongovernmental groups like the Institute of Ecosoc Rights and Migrant Care, who had met with officials.

But he said Bendera’s tactics, which include planned chaotic rallies, may not be effective.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah and the Malaysian Embassy would not comment. Teuku said covering such groups only increased the attention placed on the groups and made them more famous.