Additional Anti-terrorism Measures as Singapore Supports Coalition against ISIS

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether other countries share their terrorism watch-lists and no-fly lists with the Singapore Government; (b) whether individuals who are on other countries' watchlists are all denied entry into Singapore at our checkpoints; and (c) whether Singapore maintains its own terrorism watch-list and no-fly list and shares it with other friendly countries to enhance security cooperation.

Mdm Speaker, our security agencies have good cooperation with their foreign counterparts. They regularly exchange information on the terrorism threat. This includes the reciprocal sharing of information on terrorists and terrorist suspects. Such exchanges take place within the framework of each country's laws and agreements or understandings with counterpart countries.

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We take stringent measures to protect ourselves from any individual, local or foreign, who poses a terrorism threat to Singapore; or who intends to use Singapore to carry out terrorism-related activities. This includes denying a foreign individual entry into Singapore.

While watch-listing and sharing watch-lists are important components of counter-terrorism measures, they cannot be fool-proof in preventing foreign terrorists from entering Singapore. All countries face the challenge of stopping so-called "clean skins" – that is, persons who have not previously attracted security attention and are therefore unknown to the authorities. This is compounded by the large number of individuals from many different countries – more than 15,000 in total – who have taken part in the armed conflict in Syria and Iraq, plus others who have been indoctrinated in extremist ideology or trained in violent methods elsewhere.

The case of Mehdi Nemmouche illustrates this problem. Nemmouche was a French national who had fought in Syria. He had travelled through Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore after leaving Syria enroute to Europe, where he went on to carry out an attack in Brussels, Belgium in May 2014, killing four people. He was hitherto not known to the security agencies and therefore had not attracted the attention of countries he travelled through. So, he was not on our watchlist.

Even if a traveller's name does not appear on a watch-list, Singapore, like other countries, reserves the right to deny him entry if he has no bona fide reason for entering Singapore. Singapore also subscribes to INTERPOL's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database, which allows us to identify anyone who uses a lost or stolen passport to mask his real identity.

Mr Alex Yam asked if there has been any heightened threat to Singapore following our deployment of troops to support the coalition against ISIS. There is no indication of a heightened threat to Singapore specific to our support to the coalition against ISIS.

However, the violence in Syria and Iraq continues, and raises the overall threat level in every country. ISIS still attracts extremists and encourages its overseas supporters to carry out attacks on home soil using all means available. In the past six months alone, we have seen "lone-wolf" attacks in North America, Europe and Australia. The fact that "lone-wolves" are not part of a structured organisation makes it harder for the security agencies to detect and neutralise them.

A case in point is Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee who became an Australian national. Monis perpetrated the Lindt Café siege in Sydney in mid-December 2014, where two hostages were killed. This attack occurred even after Australia had raised its security

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posture and arrested several persons who posed a terrorism threat in Australia. France was also on heightened alert in January 2015 when the Paris attacks happened. Thus, there is no guarantee that similar attacks can always be prevented here.

Mr Alex Yam has rightly pointed out that self-radicalisation is a problem as it can lead to "lone-wolf" attacks. We have had instances of Singaporeans becoming self-radicalised even before the Syrian conflict. ISIS has, however, worsened the threat through its widespread and effective use of social media to radicalise and recruit foreign fighters and supporters.

Our community and religious organisations have put in considerable effort to counter the radical ideology of ISIS and the jihadist terrorists. They recognise the importance of tackling the problem ideologically, to complement security action by the authorities. There is growing international recognition of the need to deal upstream with the ideology that fuels jihadist terrorism. To contribute to this effort, we will be hosting the East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration in April this year. The Symposium will share best practices among participating countries and build capability to counter the terrorists' radical ideology.

Apart from what the Government and community organisations can do, I would also like to emphasise the important role that members of the public play to help protect Singapore against terrorism, in particular self-radicalisation. Family and friends are best placed to notice changes in the people close to them. They should alert the authorities if they suspect that their relative or friend may be at risk of becoming radicalised. And they could be saving their relative or friend from harming themselves and from endangering others.

Our security agencies will continue to take the necessary measures to prevent a terrorist attack from happening here. However, as I explained earlier, there is no guarantee that these measures will always succeed.

From time to time, if there is specific, credible information of a threat, or if we assess the general threat level to have risen, we may need to temporarily raise our security precautions further. While we will strive to minimise inconvenience to Singaporeans, some disruption will be inevitable such as more stringent checks at our checkpoints and the public transport system, or at places or events where many people congregate. We hope Singaporeans will understand this as necessary trade-offs for greater security to protect our loved ones, while allowing life to carry on as normally as possible.

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But, if in spite of our best efforts, an attack does occur, the Government will respond robustly and decisively to apprehend the perpetrators, and neutralise all possible threats uncovered, to prevent further attacks.

At the same time, how Singaporeans respond to an attack is key. If people who are caught in an incident know what to do and react appropriately, they can help to save their own lives and the lives of others. Emergency preparedness training is therefore important.

It is equally important that we do not allow the terrorists to achieve their objectives – to sow mistrust, division and enmity between the different communities in our society, or to create fear to stop us from going about our daily lives.

Instead of becoming divided, Singaporeans should reach out even more to each other, to friends and neighbours, schoolmates, colleagues and across communities to strengthen our unity and social resilience. The violence committed by these radicalised individuals with extreme beliefs does not represent any particular group or religion and has no place in Singapore society. We should stand together resolutely as one people to condemn it and its ideology and perpetrators.

We should also carry on with life and not be cowed – take the train, go to school, carry on working, continue with your usual activities. Of course, take sensible and necessary precautions, such as looking out for and reporting suspicious persons or objects. By all of us responding calmly together as one united people, we can prevail over the terrorists and prevent them from paralysing and dividing our society.

Mdm Speaker, I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his re-assurance. However, as we have seen from the recent Japanese hostage situation with regard to ISIS, threats can happen not just on our home soil but overseas as well. So, I have one supplementary question for the Deputy Prime Minister. Is he aware of any Singaporeans who are perhaps contractors in Syria, Iraq or Egypt, and does the Ministry have any specific recommendations for their safety?

We have advisories, of course, against people going to Syria and Iraq, particularly at this point in time. For Singaporeans everywhere, wherever they go to, as I have said, the general threat level around the world has risen and they should always take precautions and follow the guidance of security authorities in the countries which they are visiting or doing business in. That is the advice that I can give.

Mdm Speaker, I am not able to provide Mr Gerald Giam with that information.