Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trinidad battles ISIS recruitment
Island nation is largest per-capita source of Islamic State recruits in Western Hemisphere.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago — A Caribbean island nation has become an unlikely source of fighters and funding for the Islamic State militant group, prompting an internationally backed effort to stem the flow of money and recruits to Syria and Iraq.
Security officials and terrorism experts believe that as many as 125 fighters and their relatives have traveled from Trinidad and Tobago to Turkey and on to militant-controlled areas over the last four years, making the country of 1.3 million people the largest per-capita source of Islamic State recruits in the Western Hemisphere.
The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has put out propaganda videos and magazines featuring bearded fighters with lilting Trinidadian accents training in the desert with sniper rifles and encouraging their countrymen to join them.
Alarmed, Trinidadian state security officials have launched intensive surveillance and monitoring of the country’s homegrown Islamist movements, which have a history of militancy and crossover with the country’s violent criminal gangs. Saying their efforts are bearing fruit, Trinidad and Tobago officials have recently proposed legislation to crack down on the flow of money to Islamic State fighters overseas by establishing criminal penalties for those sending money to the group.
U.S. officials have described themselves as deeply concerned about the combatants and funds heading out of Trinidad and Tobago. They say they are working with the islands’ government on intelligence-sharing and new legislation, as well as sponsoring trips for Muslim leaders to the U.S. to meet Islamic leaders working on antiextremism programs.
“They are certainly not the only ones worried about this phenomenon of selfradicalization and how easy it has become,” said U.S. Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd, who is responsible for Department of Defense operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Tidd praised Trinidad and Tobago for adopting anti-terrorism legislation and cooperating with the U.S.
“Trinidad is a serious country and recognizes that there is work to be done,” Tidd said.
Some hard-line Muslim leaders have opposed the efforts, blaming the government for failing to improve the lives of poor, largely Afro-Trinidad youth who can be drawn in by ISIS recruiters.
An oil-rich nation just off the coast of Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago has long been celebrated for its rich mix of cultural influences, primarily rooted in India and Africa. Its Muslim minority of Indian-descended families and AfroTrinidadian converts includes dozens of mainstream mosques and more militant strains.
Umar Abdullah, head of the hard-line Islamic Front group in Trinidad, said he has actively discouraged members from traveling to Syria to fight. He said he knew several young men who had become ISIS fighters, although he declined to provide specifics.
“I do feel responsible in some way with some of these brothers that have left and gone to Syria and fight and so on,” Abdullah said. “I felt I could have done a lot more.”
At the same time, Abdullah defended ISIS recruits as legitimate defenders of embattled Muslims in Syria and Iraq, comparing them favorably to Western soldiers involved in military actions in the Middle East.
“Whosoever has left and gone Syria, how can they call them terrorist?” Abdullah said. “I would call my guys freedom fighters as well.”
“Trinidad is a serious country and recognizes that there is work to be done.” — U.S. Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd