2 more radicalised foreign workers found

Two more cases of radicalised foreign domestic workers (FDWs) were detected this year, bringing the total to nine since 2015.

Second Minister for Home Affairs Desmond Lee revealed this in Parliament yesterday while responding to Mr Christopher de Souza's request for an update on the threat of radicalised foreigners here.

One, a 25-year-old and the youngest radicalised FDW to be discovered here, wanted to travel to Syria with her foreign boyfriend to fight with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The other is a 28-year-old who has been working here for five years.

The two Indonesians were discovered a few months ago and had not influenced their friends or contacts here.

"Similar to the earlier cases, both of them were ISIS supporters, radicalised through social media," said Mr Lee.

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Mr Lee said all nine cases have been repatriated to their home countries.

In the last two years, 40 Bangladeshis were found to have been radicalised and supported the use of violence to pursue their extremist ideology.

"We repatriated all of them to Bangladesh, except for six who are currently serving sentences in Singapore for terrorism financing offences," he said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has worked closely with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to address the threat of radicalised foreign workers.

The MHA has an advisory for foreign workers to watch out for signs of radicalisation among co-workers and to report such cases to the authorities.

Replying to a query by The New Paper, MHA also said that first-time FDWs are required to attend the Settling-in Programme.

"With the rising threat of radicalisation, MHA and MOM have worked to address the issue as part of the curriculum of the Settling-In Programme since June 2017," it added.

"This is to sensitise FDWs to Singapore's multi-religious social values, and on how they can help keep Singapore safe and secure."

Mr Lee said foreign workers would be regularly engaged by agencies such as MOM, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) and the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG).