Syrian conflict poses concerns in region
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The conflict in Syria - now in its third year - is a security concern for many countries including Singapore, deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean told Parliament.
The government already knows of Singaporeans who have gone there to take part in the conflict or who have plans to do so, he added.
He revealed that a Singaporean woman is believed to have gone to Syria with her foreign husband and their two teenage children. “The whole family is taking part in the conflict in various ways, either joining terrorist groups to fight or providing aid and support to the fighters,” he said.
Earlier this year, the Home Affairs Ministry disclosed it was investigating another Singaporean, Haja Fakkuru-deen Usman Ali, 37, for allegedly going to Syria with the intention of taking part in armed violence there.
Teo said the naturalised Singapore citizen of Indian origin had also taken his wife and three children, then aged between two and 11, with him.
He said several other Singaporeans also intended to take up arms in Syria, but were detained before they could do so. There were others who had “expressed interest” in doing so and were under investigation.
People from Malaysia and Indonesia have also gone to Syria to fight as well as Iraq, which is being rocked by an uprising of an extremist Sunni group trying to carve out a purist Islamic state across both sides of the border.
Teo said: “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.”
Drawing parallels with the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s, he said al-Qaeda was spawned from that conflict, which had also attracted scores of foreign fighters.
And al-Qaeda planned attacks on Singapore after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US in 2001 through the regional terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiyah, he said.
“Foreign fighters in Syria may similarly return from conflict proficient in terrorist activities in their home countries or overseas or provide logistical help to those they have befriended in Syria,” Teo said.
Another worry is the impact of this on social cohesion, he said.
If support for the fighting in Syria becomes more widespread, he said, it could cause “disquiet on the ground” and mistrust between different communities.
To guard against these threats, Singapore 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”.
He said the government would also work with religious leaders and community groups to counter the radical propaganda used by terrorists to recruit fighters.
He also urged Singaporeans to keep a lookout for family members and friends and bring them to the attention of authorities if there were signs of them becoming radicalised.
