UN representative Richard Bluwitt warned that terrorists are seeking new vulnerable targets, especially in tourism sectors, like reported by guardian.co.tt. Calling for swift regional collaboration and commitment to regional strategies “…by this summer”, Bluwitt urged islands to be more attentive to youths—terrorist recruiters’ targets—and legislate for their needs.
St Lucia’s national security minister, Hermangild Francis, in April voiced concerns about terrorism’s possible effect on tourism.
Francis Forbes, executive director of Caricom’s Crime and Security Agency, said: “If we have an incident with just one of our tourist ships, you could imagine the sort of catastrophic reaction that’s going to happen to our main export.”
Several issues emerged at the recent Counter-Terrorism Strategy conference in Port-of-Spain:
• Online recruitment. Forbes spoke about online recruitment tools. “Isis’ skilled use of social media and on-line propaganda, like their Dabiq on-line magazine, helps recruit fighters/supporters and incite anti-Western sentiment.” He cited Dabiq’s August 2016 issue featuring the Caricom FTF—reportedly T&T’s Shane Crawford—claiming to be an Isis sniper and detailing his conversion from Christianity to Islam. “The writer called for attacks against ‘disbelievers’, stating if he and his friends had the resources, he’d conduct attacks against his home country,” Forbes said.
• Potential violence returned of terrorist fighters. “Returning fighters would have battlefield experience, be more radicalised, and have developed networks with other Islamic extremists globally. They could spread their radicalised version of Islam to others, encouraging them to participate in violent Jihad, either abroad or at home,” said Forbes.
• “Lone wolf” threats. “Plus there’s concern about ‘lone wolf’ susceptible individuals, unable to travel to Syria, Iraq, Libya or another Isis branch, who could potentially conduct attacks against our shared interests in the region. Brazil’s recent arrest of individuals supportive of Isis shows how real this threat could be,” said Forbes.
• Potential divisiveness of returned terrorist fighters. Returning fighters could promote a rift between Sunni and Shi’a Muslim communities that have been living and working together peacefully for decades in the Caribbean, said Forbes.
• Blurred lines between extremism and gang culture. Caricom states have noted that Isis attracts younger recruits more likely to have criminal/violent pasts. Forbes said: “Criminality and gang culture have replaced extreme interpretations of religion as the binding group identity that characterised earlier waves of violent jihadist recruits. The criminal element among this new wave means they’re likely to be already known to law enforcement.”
• Prison “incubators.” Forbes said prisons, often considered breeding grounds for radicalisation, “are possibly more prominent as incubators for networks of violent jihadists.”
“The difficulty is to identify the blurred line between criminal behaviour and extremist activity,” said Forbes.
