Bangladeshis deported in Singapore security raids

Building workers were being trained to wage ‘holy war’

SINGAPORE // Twenty seven Bangladeshi construction workers were arrested in Singapore last year for supporting “the ideology of terrorist groups” and 26 of them were deported. The workers were being groomed to return to their home country to wage “holy war”, and some had studied booklets on assassination techniques, the Singaporean ministry of home affairs said.

Although they were planning attacks overseas, “they could have easily changed their minds and attacked Singapore”, said country’s home affairs minister, K Shanmugam. Several of members of the group also contemplated taking up armed extremist activities in the Middle East, according to the ministry.

The 27 were arrested under Singapore’s internal security act.

“They supported the extremist ideology of terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIL in Iraq and Syria,” the ministry said.

Officials said the Bangladeshis, arrested between November 16 and December 1 last year, worked in construction in Singapore. “The group members took measures to avoid detection by the authorities. They shared extremist propaganda material discreetly among themselves, and held weekly meetings and gatherings where they discussed conflicts that involved Muslims,” the ministry said. Mr Shanmugam said the group held meetings regularly at a mosque.

The group was also recruiting members, the ministry said.

The ministry confirmed that the group’s 26 members were deported, while the remaining Bangladeshi is serving a jail sentence for attempting to flee Singapore after learning about the arrests of the other members.

He will be repatriated to Bangladesh after he completes his sentence. The man was said not to have been a member of the group but was “in the process of being radicalised”.

According to the ministry, the group’s members were encouraged to return to Bangladesh and wage war against the government there, while some had sent money to terror-linked entities in their country.

The ministry said the 27, aged between 25 and 40, possessed radical materials, including footage of children undergoing training in what appeared to be militant camps.

Excerpts from a video released by the ministry showed young boys dressed in black and wearing white caps firing pistols and automatic rifles. A document that contained graphic images and instructions on how to carry out silent killings, using different methods and weapons, was also being shared among members.

Singapore authorities in 2001 foiled an attempt to carry out bomb attacks on US and other foreign targets in the city-state, arresting several suspects.

“The government ... will take firm and decisive action against any person who engages in any activity in support of terrorism,” the ministry said.

“Foreigners are guests of our country and they should not abuse this privilege and use Singapore as a base to import their own domestic political agenda and carry out activities in pursuit of such an agenda.”

The announcement of the arrests came less than a week after militants mounted attacks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, leaving at least eight people dead, including four suspected attackers.