Security Threat Posed by Militants Who Travel Overseas to Fight

Mdm Speaker, the conflict in Syria is into its third year. It is a security concern for many countries, including Singapore. As many as 12,000 foreigners may already have gone to fight in Syria. This is even more than the number of foreign fighters in the Soviet-Afghan war, and the number is still growing. Many of the foreigners have joined terrorist groups at the forefront of the violence, such as the Al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Al-Nusra or the Al-Nusra Front and the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has now renamed itself the Islamic State (IS).

The Government knows of a handful of Singaporeans who have gone to Syria to take part in the conflict. One of them is Haja Fakkurudeen Usman Ali (Haja), a naturalised Singapore citizen of India origin. He brought his wife and three children then aged between two and 11 with him. Another female Singaporean is believed to have gone to Syria with her foreign husband and two teenaged children. The whole family is taking part in the conflict in various ways, either fighting in the terrorist groups, or providing aid and support to the fighters.

Several Singaporeans intended to travel to Syria or other conflict zones to engage in the jihadist violence there, but were detected before they could proceed with their plans. One was Abdul Basheer s/o Abdul Kader (Basheer), the self-radicalised Singaporean lawyer who was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) from 2007 to 2010. He was re-detained in October 2012 when he was found to have been looking for ways to travel to places like Syria

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to engage in armed jihad.

Another was Zakaria bin Rosdan, who tried to establish contact with foreign militant groups online in order to join them and engage in the violence in Syria. A third Singaporean, Khairul Sofri bin Osman, was interested to carry out militant jihad overseas in places like Syria, and had also abetted Zakaria in his plans. Both Zakaria and Khairul were issued with Restriction Orders (RO) under the ISA in December 2013.

There are others who have expressed interest to go to Syria to join in the fighting, and are presently under investigation. We have established that they were radicalised by videos, articles and social media postings online. They subscribed to the sectarian-religious or ideological rhetoric that calls for engaging in militant jihad in Syria.

Mdm Speaker, Singapore is concerned about the flow of foreign fighters into Syria for two reasons.

First, we worry about the terrorism threat from these foreign fighters after they leave Syria. There are parallels between the Syrian crisis and the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s, which drew in several thousand foreign fighters and led to the creation of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation.

Al-Qaeda had, among other things, planned terrorist attacks in Singapore through the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) group. Several Singaporean JI members involved had trained in Afghanistan with Al-Qaeda. JI planned suicide truck bomb attacks against a number of diplomatic missions in Singapore, in collaboration with Al-Qaeda. Fortunately, their plans were foiled by ISD's operation in December 2001.

The foreign fighters in Syria may similarly return from the conflict, proficient in terrorist skills. They may undertake terrorist activities in their home countries or overseas, or at the very least provide logistical and operational help to terrorists whom they befriended in Syria. Mdm Speaker, this has already happened. UK and French nationals who returned from fighting in Syria have already targeted Central London and the French Riviera.

Let me cite a recent example of how foreign fighters in Syria can threaten our security here in Singapore. A French national who had fought in Syria recently attacked the Jewish Museum in Brussels in Belgium on 24 May 2014, killing four persons. He was subsequently arrested in France. This French national, whose identity we had not previously known, had in fact, travelled through Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore en-route from Syria back to Europe. Most likely, he did this to mask the fact that he was a returnee from Syria.

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Of more direct concern is if there are foreign fighters in Syria who have come from our region. The Indonesian authorities have said that some 56 Indonesians have joined in the armed violence in Syria and Iraq. Most belong to militant groups like the Indonesian JI and the Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT) which was founded by Abu Bakar Bashir, the former Spiritual Leader of the JI. More than 30 Malaysians have gone to fight in Syria and Iraq, with some reports citing as many as 100. Some 15 of them have reportedly died while fighting in Syria, while another undertook a suicide mission on behalf of IS in Iraq on 26 May 2014 which killed 25 persons. Meanwhile, the Malaysian authorities had arrested at least 18 people who were involved in activities related to fighting in Syria, including two servicemen in the Malaysian Navy.

The presence of former foreign fighters in our region – whether they originate from Southeast Asia or elsewhere – is a security threat to us. This threat is magnified if these returnee fighters are Singaporeans. Indeed, any Singaporean who assists violent organisations like the Al-Nusra Front, IS or any other violent group, have demonstrated a dangerous tendency to support, or resort to, violence to pursue a political or ideological cause. They would thus pose a real threat to Singapore's national security.

Our second concern over the Syrian conflict is its potential to damage our social cohesion. If we find more Singaporeans fighting or supporting the fighting in Syria, or harbouring intentions of doing so, it will cause disquiet on the ground, and mistrust and tension between our communities. This was the situation in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US, and the arrests of the Singapore JI members shortly thereafter in December 2001. The Government puts in considerable effort to work with the communities to protect ethnic relations and social harmony. Our Muslim community also played a key role, acknowledging the danger and taking responsibility for countering violent extremist ideology and rehabilitating those who had gone down the terrorist pathway. We also formed the Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles and launched the Community Engagement Programme to build good social relations, so that our society can weather similar social stresses. These efforts are ongoing. They stand us in good stead when we encounter new incidents, for example, in 2010 when we detained a National Serviceman who was planning to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Mdm Speaker, the Syrian crisis has increased the terrorism threat to Singapore. I assure Members that the Government will maintain vigilance in counter-terrorism measures. We will continue to investigate persons who intend to engage in violence overseas, so as to prevent them from posing a security threat to Singapore and their fellow citizens.

A key challenge is to counter the radical propaganda used by the terrorists and radical ideologues to recruit foreign fighters. At the core of the issue is an ideological battle, between those who distort Islam for their violent political ends, and those who uphold the

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tenets of Islam as a religion of peace. We have discussed the security concerns arising from the Syrian conflict with our religious leaders, who are looking at ways to expand and build on their ongoing efforts to counter radical ideology.

A related challenge, which the Member has rightly identified, is the use of social media and the Internet for recruitment. The Soviet-Afghan conflict in the 1980s was in the pre-Internet age. Social media and the Internet have been a game-changer in the Syrian conflict. Some foreigners have been lured by the sense of "adventure" marketed by the extremists online. Others are attracted by the "jihad cool" factor, with "selfies" of fighters posing with weapons. Youths, who are the primary users of social media, are particularly vulnerable to such propaganda.

Mdm Speaker, it is not possible to insulate Singaporeans from the radical rhetoric that is so prevalent online. Singaporeans therefore must play their part in preventing loved ones and friends from becoming radicalised and embarking on a path of violence and self-destruction. They should seek help by bringing such individuals to the attention of the authorities early, rather than let the individual go deeper down the path towards violence, and causing the death of others, and of themselves. As one of my Middle Eastern counterparts explained to me, by intervening early, family members, friends, the community and the authorities would be "saving" these individuals from taking a course of action that would have caused them and others harm.

Singaporeans who wish to help the Syrian civilians who have been victims of the violence should not go to Syria and run the risk of getting involved in the violence. They can help by giving humanitarian aid through bona fide local organisations. They are strongly advised to check with MUIS before making any donations, because some foreign humanitarian organisations are, in fact, covers used by radical elements to raise money or recruit fighters.

Madam, the Syrian conflict has been described by counter terrorism experts as "an incubator of new terrorists" with combat skills. Can I ask the Deputy Prime Minister, given the serious threat to national security, whether he is disturbed that there has already been a handful of Singaporeans who have answered the call for militant jihad, and how we can take steps to ensure that the numbers are kept down, and whether new measures will be taken to enhance surveillance of radical Islamist websites that recruit fighters, and to track Singaporeans and also those in this region travelling to Syria or who plan to?

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My second question is: what efforts will be taken to sensitise the wider community to alert the authorities early of those who plan to travel to Syria or who are influenced by the recruitment videos online?

My third question is: what is MHA's assessment of Singapore's readiness to tackle the potential fallout from the Syrian conflict?

Mdm Speaker, once again, we have to look at this issue from two aspects. One is the security aspect and the other is the community resilience aspect.

From the security aspect, it requires vigilance. We take the matter very seriously. It requires vigilance – both locally, but also in cooperation with other countries. Our security agencies are working closely with their regional and international counterparts to exchange intelligence and cooperate in investigations. We are all concerned about the cross-border flows and the potential interactions between foreign fighters who may have gone to Syria, and form networks among themselves. We will investigate anyone, whether local or foreign, who poses a terrorism threat to Singapore and Singaporeans.

There is also the community resilience aspect. To counter the threat of extremism and terrorism holistically, the Government is working in partnership with the community to counter the radical ideology propagated by the terrorists. We have a good base for this because we have been working with the local community religious leaders for some years now. As I said, we have the Religious Rehabilitation Group which has taken upon itself the responsibility of helping to counsel and rehabilitate those who have gone down the wrong path. Not only that, they reach out to the wider community, to put forward anti-extremist messages, and also to explain why certain interpretations which lead people towards extremism are not the correct teachings, and to guide the wider community along the right path. The objective of these efforts is to marginalise militant ideas and prevent them from gaining a foothold among the wider community.

More recently, in the Syrian conflict, the Muslim community has taken active steps, for example, to provide bona fide channels for Singaporeans to render humanitarian aid to Syria, so that the good intentions of our Singaporeans are not exploited by extremists who use humanitarian aid as a cover for their violent agenda.

I should say that it requires the effort from all of us, so that we build our community harmony together, we try to make sure that Singaporeans remain united, and that we do not cause additional friction and tensions between the communities where these have not arisen and are not necessary.

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The Syrian conflict does pose a very serious long-term threat for Singapore and for other countries, and we do want to make sure that we work together and not allow it to pull our society apart.

I want to thank Deputy Prime Minister for the statement as well as consciously making the distinction between practising Islam in a peaceful and moderate way, compared to one that is radicalised and supporting armed conflict. May I ask two supplementary questions?

How is MHA tracking these potential radicalised volunteers right now? Is there a systematic programme, especially for those who may be influencing those in Singapore? And because the Deputy Prime Minister did mention that the Internet sites are also a key factor today, have there been sites that have been identified and banned at this point?

Lastly, the Deputy Prime Minister also spoke about being proactive in creating awareness as well as rehabilitating those who have been radicalised. Will there be more resources given by the Government to help groups and those who are interested in creating greater awareness, as well as helping out in this effort?

The security agencies are, as usual, keeping their ears to the ground to see whether they have received information on people who are becoming radicalised or who have such tendencies. We work with other countries. Most of these sites, in fact, all of these sites, are hosted overseas. We encourage the community in Singapore to be aware of them and not to subscribe to the ideology. We also encourage Singaporeans not to stoke inter-communal tensions, where these do not exist and are unnecessary.

It is also important for the community itself to take active steps to protect itself. As I have said, the way it was described to me by one of my Middle Eastern counterparts is, when they do take action or do counselling over the person who had such tendencies, they tell the family, "I have saved your son", because, in truth, that is what has happened. By taking action early, we are able to bring counselling and other resources to save this person from doing harm to himself, to others and to his family as well, by the direction that he has taken.

It is also important that all Singaporeans are aware of what is going on in Syria and the serious implications it can have on us. Tomorrow, I will be having a dialogue with several local religious leaders of different faiths together with Minister Yaacob, to discuss with them Government's concerns over the Syrian conflict and to foster better understanding and appreciation of the challenges we face, so that we do not look at it just as an issue for one community but we look at it as an issue which we all need to face together.

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To the Deputy Prime Minister, I am happy to hear that MHA has been engaging the Malay/Muslim as well as the other communities on this Syrian crisis issue. Would MHA be updating in the future any development that would enhance our understanding as well as the threat posed by the Syrian issue, should there be further developments?

Certainly, that is a good idea and we will continue to do so. Today, I appreciate very much the opportunity of having been able to update the House on the issue and what we are doing, and we hope that this messaging will also get out to the wider community in Singapore.