The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced today (March 18) that four Singapore citizens have been separately dealt with under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for undertaking or intending to undertake violence in overseas armed conflicts.

This chilling news came after a recent announcement by MHA two months ago that twenty-seven male Bangladeshis working in the construction industry were arrested under the ISA.

What are the differences and similarities between the two ISA arrests? 

Differences

1. The new ISA detainees are locals: The March ISA detainees are Singaporeans, while the 27 arrested in January were Bangladeshi nationals.

2. The Jan ISA detainees were eventually sent away to Bangladesh:

Jan ISA detainees: 26 have since been repatriated to Bangladesh, while the last person will be sent back after serving a jail term for attempting to illegally leave Singapore after finding out about his fellow members’ arrest.

March ISA detainees: Two are detained under the ISA in August 2015, while the other two were issued with Restriction Orders (ROs) under the ISA in March 2016.

3. The March ISA detainees appeared to pose a danger to Singapore and Singaporeans:

Jan ISA detainees: They were not planning any terrorist attacks in Singapore.

March ISA detainees: Two who were detained under the ISA in August 2015 were assessed to pose a security threat to Singapore.

4. The timeline between the arrests and the announcement of the arrests:

Jan ISA detainees: All of them were arrested between Nov. 16 and Dec. 1, 2015. The MHA made the announcement on Jan 20.

March ISA detainees: Two of them had been detained since August 2015, while the other two were detained in March 2016. MHA made the announcement today.

Similarities

5. All were arrested and detained under the ISA.

6. All of them appeared to be self-radicalised.

Jan ISA detainees: Of the 27, 26 were members of a closed religious study group that subscribed to extremist beliefs and teachings of radical figures like Anwar al-Awlaki, an American and Yemeni Islamic lecturer alleged to have ties with militant group Al-Qaeda.

March ISA detainees: Two had commenced religious studies in a religious institution in Yemen in January 2010 and July 2013 respectively.

One (Wang Yuandongyi) first learnt about the Kurds through newsfeeds in November 2015. In December 2015, Wang initiated online contact with a Kurdish militia group to express his interest to join the group in their fight against ISIS.  He also communicated with like-minded individuals online about joining the militia group and had discussed with at least two such individuals about possible travel routes to Syria.

7. All of them made plans or were actively taking steps to travel to conflict zones to take part in an armed conflict.

Jan ISA detainees: Several contemplated travelling to the Middle East to take part in the ongoing conflict.

March ISA detainees: Two had participated in the armed sectarian conflict in Yemen. The third had performed armed sentry duties in Yemen. Wang intended to travel to Syria but was arrested before he reached there.

Related articles:

23-year-old S’porean man brought along SAF No. 4 & combat boots to fight ISIS in Syria

4 S’poreans dealt with under ISA: 2 fought in Yemen, 1 didn’t fire weapon, 1 wanted to fight ISIS

27 Bangladeshi nationals arrested under ISA because of terror links, deported from S’pore

Top photo from Thinkstock images.

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