Jihadist
activity and Islamic radicalism have been visibly growing in the past decade in
the Maldives, traditionally a religiously-relaxed Muslim country. The Maldives
experienced a terrorist attack in 2007, which wounded 12 foreigners, just prior
to the inauguration of President Mohamed Nasheed. During Nasheed’s time in
office there was a huge increase in violent extremism and a spread of radical
ideology among the population. The present administration of Abdulla Yameen
Abdul Gayoom is now grappling with an increasing number of Maldivians
participating in transnational terrorist activity and an actively radicalised
community.
The exact number of Maldivians fighting for terrorist groups in Syria
and Iraq today is not known, but various reports estimate it at over 100. It is
known that at least seven Maldivians have died in Syria and Iraq to date.
Fighters have included students, those convicted or accused of
terrorism-related or other crimes in the Maldives, religious figures and former
military personnel. In 2015, departures to Syria have mostly been young men who
belong to criminal gangs in Male, the Maldives capital. Maldivian jihadists
travel via Sri Lanka, India or Thailand (popular holiday destinations), before
heading to Pakistan for training or to Turkey to cross into Syria.
Most Maldivian fighters have joined the al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat
al-Nusra (JN) terrorist group, although others also fight for the Islamic State
of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) and other groups. The Islamic State of
Maldives (ISM) group, which claims to be a local affiliate of ISIS, emerged in
July 2014.
While the youth, who make up 60 per cent of the population, are more
socially liberal, there is a growing radicalised community in the Maldives. On
5 September 2014, there was a protest conducted by about 200 people, some
carrying ISIS flags, calling for the full implementation of Sharia law and an
end to secular rule in the Maldives.
Radicalisation and recruitment of Maldivians to fight in Syria occurs
both online and offline, and is conducted in conjunction with fundraising for radical
groups. On the ground, there is a Maldivian network of recruiters that works
with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan and operatives in India, as well as
other terrorist groups. Radicalisation also occurs as a result of jihadist
preaching carried out in certain mosques in the Maldives.
The high level of internet penetration in the Maldives (about 43 per
cent of the population), makes its population of active social media users
susceptible to the radical jihadist ideologies propagated online. Extremist
Maldivian NGOs and radical Maldivian preachers have thousands — some, tens of
thousands — of supporters on Facebook, their primary online medium of
communication. Both groups have a presence across the social media platform on
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr and other sites.
There are also dedicated websites such as Haqqu, launched in
August 2014, which promote ISIS. The website of Bilad Al-Sham Media (BASM),
which started in August 2013, supports al Qaeda-affiliated JN. BASM calls
itself the official media representative of Maldivians fighting in Syria and
has produced detailed accounts of Maldivians who have died while conducting
suicide attacks for JN. BASM and Haqqu also have active Facebook pages.
The Maldives is a fertile ground for jihadist recruitment despite its
geographical remoteness and small population. Maldivians have also been
recruited for other transnational suicide terrorist attacks. Notably, the 27
May 2009 attack on Pakistan’s intelligence service in Lahore was carried-out by
the Maldivian jihadist Ali Jaleel. Two Maldivians were also reportedly
recruited as suicide bombers for the foiled plot to attack the US and Israeli
consulates in southern India in April 2014.
As such, the growth of jihadism in the Maldives is a serious security
concern, particularly for India and other South Asian countries. But organised
terrorist networks operating inside the Maldives and grassroots radicalisation
are both relatively recent phenomena, emerging only in the past decade. Thus
these phenomena can potentially be fully reversed. A further reason for
optimism lies in the fact the Islam practised in the Maldives has historically
been moderate and holistic, introduced as it was in the 12th century by a
Persian Sheikh and a Sufi saint.
The Maldivian government has recently taken some decisive
counter-terrorism measures, but more comprehensive action is needed. Counter-extremism measures must be increased substantially in
islands with radicalised communities. There must be an immediate crack-down on
criminal gangs, particularly radicalised gangs, many of which are connected to
transnational drug cartels.
A national counter-ideology program conducted online and on the ground
with community support is urgently needed to re-popularise moderate and true
Islam. Comprehensive terrorist and extremist rehabilitation programs are
needed, especially for radicalised gang members and returning fighters.
But the Maldives, a 1200-island archipelago scattered across about
90,000 square kilometres of the Indian Ocean, with its limited resources,
cannot achieve all this alone. A joint effort is required to dismantle regional
jihadist and drug-trafficking networks. Regional and international aid and
cooperation are required to address the country’s counter-extremism needs and
socio-economic issues.
There is an on-going international call to boycott the tourism industry
of the Maldives, due to the present government’s alleged violations of
international law and domestic political complications. But a boycott of its
tourist industry would inflict great suffering, since tourism is the main
source of income and employs approximately 50 per cent of the labour force. A
substantial decrease in tourism would further increase the already-high youth
unemployment rate and in turn increase their level of radicalisation.
It is clear that as a young democracy and a developing country, the
Maldives needs help, not isolation, to stem the proliferation of radicalism and
jihadism.
Iromi Dharmawardhane is a
Senior Analyst with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS),
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
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