Second reported case of Indonesians trying to use S’pore as transit point for travel to Syria
JAKARTA – Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Tuesday deported an Indonesian man and woman who allegedly had plans to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Both were deported to Batam.
The man, identified only as MNA, is a 40-year-old native of Medan, reported The Straits Times. The woman, also 40, was identified only as SI, and is known to have lived in West Java province.
Both had reached HarbourFront Centre on Monday and were held for interrogation before they were deported the next day, said Riau Islands police spokesman Saprono Erlangga.
The couple had left Batam on a Queens Star speed boat on Monday afternoon. They had planned to continue their trip to Syria after Singapore.
“They are now under interrogation by police and immigration officers. They planned to go to Syria. Investigation is being carried out intensively on whether they are planning to join ISIS,” Mr Erlangga said.
This is the second reported case of Indonesians planning to travel to Syria using Singapore as a transit point.
SENT HOME
On Feb 21, three staff members of a West Java radical Islamic boarding school and a teenage student were stopped in Singapore and sent home.
They were deported to Indonesia after investigations revealed they had plans to make their way to Syria to fight for ISIS, said Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs two days later.
The four were questioned by the Indonesian police’s anti-terror unit, but they could not be detained further because, under the country’s anti-terror laws, they did not commit any offence.
They were released on Feb 24.
This article was first published on Dec 30, 2016.
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