Trinidad and Tobago authorities have information that over 400 T&T nationals – men, women and children – have gone to Syria and undergone military training and indoctrination with the Islamic State (ISIS) and have been radicalised, Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal revealed yesterday.
“Government has information on the most significant security threat facing T&T and our generation – the threat of ISIS infiltrating the Caribbean and T&T. What are you doing about it?” Moonilal asked in Parliament.
Speaking during debate on legislation to amend the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) to deepen local intelligence capabilities, Moonilal challenged Government to comment on information coming to hand that Government has received intelligence on the stockpiling of weapons in T&T and threats to the State.
“What are you doing with it – act on it the intelligence,” he said.
Moonilal held up a thick sheaf of documents to support his revelations. The Oropouche East MP noted that last Friday in Parliament, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had acknowledged some T&T nationals had gone to Syria where ISIS was active and have returned and are now under surveillance.
He called on Government to say what was being done on policies to handle such returning nationals. He indicated one option was creating criminal offences to charge people involved in financing such travel. He noted that T&T had once banned Stokely Carmichael and CLR James for ideology.
Calling for investigation of the current situation and policies to deal with it, he said people who have gone to ISIS and became indoctrinated and radicalised pose a clear and present danger to the State. (Excerpts taken from TT Guardian)
