Ministers in Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to step up efforts to counter terrorism by sharing critical data such as biometric information of known fighters and those convicted of terrorism offences. The measures were agreed by Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of an International Meeting on Counter-Terrorism, held in Bali.
Given the threat from an estimated 1,000 fighters from Malaysia and Indonesia who have travelled to participate in the conflict in Syria and Iraq, and several hundred other individuals previously convicted of terrorism offences in Indonesia who will be released from prison in the next few years, the Ministers discussed what could be done to further enhance cooperation between the security and intelligence agencies of Malaysia, Indonesia and neighbouring countries. This was seen as particularly important in the light of the recent arrests by the Indonesian authorities of six people in Batam who were involved in a terror plot targeted at Singapore.
Two priorities were agreed: (1) the exchange, on a systematic basis, of biometric information including fingerprints of known fighters and those convicted of Terrorism Offences; and (2) the sharing of best practices in de-radicalisation and countering violent extremism through regular institutionalised exchanges at the working level.
