CNN: For six days a week, the
three women worked as domestic workers in homes across Singapore. But in their
spare time, they promoted ISIS online, donated money to militants overseas, and
became so radicalized that at least one was ready to die as a suicide bomber in
Syria, according to Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs.
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The women -- all
Indonesian nationals -- were arrested in September under Singapore's Internal
Security Act on suspicion of taking part in terror financing activities and
face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000 Singapore dollars
($362,000).
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A spokeswoman for the Indonesian
Embassy in Singapore confirmed the arrests and said it was providing consular
assistance to the women, who do not have legal representation because they are
still under investigation.
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The women are yet to be
formally charged. Terrorism experts say they are not the only domestic workers
who are believed to have been radicalized online while working in big Asian
cities like Singapore and Hong Kong.
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As ISIS shifts its gaze
towards Asia following the fall of its caliphate in the Middle East, these
women are increasingly being targeted, albeit in a less organized way, experts
warn.
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"They have preyed upon and exploited by militant cells who essentially view them as cash
cows," said Nava Nuraniyah, a researcher at the Institute for Policy
Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), an Indonesian think tank. "They have a stable
income, speak English and usually have a broad international network, making
them ideal (targets)."
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A radical fringe
Such women represent a tiny subset of the approximately 250,000 domestic migrant
workers who live in Singapore and of the 385,000 who reside in Hong Kong.
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"The vast majority
of foreign workers are law-abiding and make a positive contribution to our
society," said a spokesman for Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs.
"However, there are still individuals who continue to be
radicalized by ISIS' violent ideology."
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Most of the cases
identified so far involve Indonesian nationals, according to terrorism experts.
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CNN attempted to contact
the three Indonesian women being held in Singapore but was unable to secure a
comment.
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Between 2015 and 2017,
IPAC conducted its own investigation into the
radicalization of domestic workers and found there was a "radical
fringe" of at least 50 Indonesian women working overseas as nannies, maids
or caretakers for the elderly. Among these, 43 were based in Hong Kong, four in
Singapore and three in Taiwan. Due to the difficulty of obtaining first-hand
data and testimonies, these are the most recent figures available.
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According to a source in
Indonesia with knowledge of the profiles of radicalized militants who were
returned to their home country, at least 20 radicalized domestic workers were
deported back to Indonesia, a country which has the largest population of
Muslims in the world, including three who are currently undergoing a
deradicalization program run in cooperation with the government.
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For the handful of women
who become radicalized, the process usually begins with a traumatic event,
according to IPAC researcher Nuraniyah. And the radicalization can be extremely
rapid. IPAC's report details the case of one Indonesian domestic worker from
Hong Kong who went from a secular fashion enthusiast to ISIS devotee in less
than a year.
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"They either go
through a divorce, get into debt or suffer from the culture shock of moving to
a place very different from home, which are all common issues encountered by
migrant workers," Nuraniyah said.
Living far from home in
an unfamiliar environment, sometimes exposed to ill-treatment by unscrupulous
employers, they are especially vulnerable to indoctrination online.
.
"They are lonely so
they feel a need to engage with the Indonesian community, either online or in
real life," said Diovio Alfath, a program officer at The Coalition of
Civil Society Against Violent Extremism or C-Save, an Indonesian organization
which helps rehabilitate victims of radicalization. "But lacking the
social networks they would normally turn to for advice, they aren't equipped to
deal with the radical messages that are being fed to them."
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New destination
The two women had also
been encouraged by their online contacts to migrate to the southern
Philippines, according to Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs. Experts say
ISIS has strengthened its foothold in Southeast
Asia, and ISIS sympathizers -- including radicalized domestic workers -- have
recently started setting their sights on the Philippines as a destination.
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"After 2017, once
ISIS started losing territory in the Middle East, its message shifted,"
Abuza said. "It started encouraging militants to travel to Mindanao, in
the Philippines, and establish a caliphate there."
Several Islamist
organizations in the Philippines and Indonesia -- including Abu Sayyaf, The
Maute Group and Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) -- have pledged allegiance to ISIS.
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Several individuals were
arrested recently in Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, for
assisting ISIS sympathizers on their way to the Philippines, Ayob Khan Mydin
Pitchay, a Malaysian counter-terrorism official, told the Malay Mail in September.
Full article: CNN Asia –
10 November 2019
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