Singapore deports 26 Bangladeshis for ISIS links

Singapore, a wealthy multi-ethnic city state, arrested 27 Bangladeshi construction workers who supported Islamist groups including al Qaeda and Islamic State and deported 26 of them, the government said on Wednesday.

The authority said the 27 male Bangladeshis, all working in the construction industry in Singapore, were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) between November 16 and December 1 previous year.

Quoting the country’s home ministry, the newspaper further wrote that some of them had considered waging armed jihad overseas, but they were not planning any terrorist attacks in Singapore.

Dhaka – Singapore has deported 26 Bangladesh nationals suspected to have linked with militants outfits Islamic State and al-Qaeda, according to Singapore home ministry statement. “They shared jihadi-related material discreetly among themselves, and held weekly meetings and gatherings where they discussed armed jihad and conflicts that involved Muslims”, the ministry said.

He will also be repatriated once he completes his sentence.

The remaining arrested Bangladeshi national was not a member of the group, but the MHA said he was believed to be in the process of being radicalized and also possessed jihad-related material.

Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim also on his Facebook page urged more vigilance against “radical teachings and ideologies, or of any suspicious activities”, in Singapore but stressed, “At the same time, I hope we will remain united and not resort to discriminating (against) foreign workers here”. All but one have been repatriated to Bangladesh, with the last set to be repatriated after serving a jail term for attempting to illegally leave Singapore. They were arrested the same day as primary investigation found them to have “militant links”. Several contemplated travelling to the Middle East to take part in the ongoing conflict. Several members also had a shared document containing graphic images and instruction details on how to conduct “silent killings” using different methods and weapons.

Bangladeshi media reports said a court in Dhaka sent 14 of the 26 militants to jail on Dec 27 under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

A number of members admitted that they believed they should participate in and wage armed jihad on behalf of their religion.

The announcement of the arrests came after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack in Jakarta Thursday that left four civilians and four attackers dead.