FOUR Rohingya refugees were recruited by Islamic State cells in Malaysia to wage war against the Myanmar government, revealed Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counterterrorism principle director today.

Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said IS operatives had recruited from among the refugee community in the country.

“There were four cases where IS cells in Malaysia recruited Rohingya refugees to be part of their group.

“They were supposed to wage war in Rahkine state against the government of Myanmar,” he told reporters at the International Association of Counterterrorism and Security Professionals symposium.

All four have been detained and charged.

“This happened in 2015 or 2016, if I am not mistaken,” said Ayob Khan.

Asked about the challenges of monitoring more than 100,000 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia, he said it was important to have in-depth intelligence gathering.

“Intelligence is important. We need to know who funds them, who trains them, this is all important.

“From there, we can monitor. We are monitoring the situation.”

The concern regarding Rohingya refugees was highlighted by Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu in his opening speech at the same event this morning.

He said the violence against the Rohingya ethnic minority in Myanmar could lead to the group being manipulated by IS elements.

“Today, we see extremist violence happening in Rakhine state, and we are very concerned that the Rohingya could be manipulated into becoming suicide bombers, or recruited into terrorist cells in the region,” said Mohamad.

“The threat of terrorism will only escalate if the global community continues to disengage its communities from race and religion.”

Ayob Khan said the majority of suspected terrorists in Malaysia were recruited via social media.

He added that IS propaganda materials were easily available online.

“In Malaysia, many of the recruits were indoctrinated by what they found on the internet.

“Social media, for example, is one of the tools used by IS recruiters to influence sympathisers to join their cause.” – August 27, 2018.