Singapore repatriates two radicalised housemaids

Singapore has repatriated two Indonesian maids it said were radicalised online, one of whom wanted to travel to Syria with her foreign boyfriend to join ISIL.

Second home affairs minister Desmond Lee told parliament that there have now been nine radicalised foreign domestic workers uncovered by the city-state since 2015. All have been repatriated.

Singapore’s leaders have warned that it is a prime target for a terror attack because of its strong stand against terrorism and its reputation as a regional financial centre.

It is also supporting the US-led coalition against ISIL with non-combat assistance such as air-to-air refuelling.

While none of the nine maids intended to carry out attacks in Singapore, “we cannot condone support for any radical ideologies, whether by locals or foreigners”, Mr Lee said.

Hundreds of thousands of foreign maids and building workers are based in Singapore, which has one of Asia’s wealthiest economies.

Singapore in 2015 and last year arrested 40 Bangladeshi workers who it said were plotting violence in their homeland. Six are serving jail terms for terrorism and terrorist financing, while the others have been repatriated.

The convicted ringleader, Rahman Mizanur, was jailed for five years in 2016. He had tried several times to join ISIL in Syria, but could not get visas to Turkey or Algeria, the court heard.

Mizanur and other Bangladeshis working in Singapore had planned to violently overthrow the Bangladeshi government and establish a caliphate there, court documents showed. They also collected funds to support their cause.