LET’S TAKE IN REFUGEES

This is the appeal from The Muslims of Trinidad and Tobago, a group which wants Government’s help to provide a safe haven to Syrians currently living in camps in Lebanon and Jordan. The organisation has turned to this position as it is concerned it may not be able to distribute $1.7 million in relief supplies to refugees in the Middle East, because of a ban on travel for seven Muslim countries.

It also believes Government’s proposals to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act, as announced by Attorney General (AG) Faris Al-Rawi last Thursday, will also restrict the movement of local Muslims, the organisation’s public relations officer Imtiaz Mohammed said in a release yesterday. Mohammed is also president of the Islamic Missionary Guild. “This team may have to travel through a country that the AG may consider a terrorist country.

Who is going to determine the purpose and on what grounds, why I travelled to a restricted country.

Are they going to have Muslims followed?” Mohammed asked.

“They should also consider taking in some of the Syrian refugees (1,000) and we the Muslim community would take care of their needs.” The proposed amendment to the current Anti-Terrorism Act seeks to strengthen the existing laws and bring a new law to deal with foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs).

The Attorney General has stated the legislation will extend the scope of the Act to cover terrorist acts committed outside of TT; extend specific offences for the provision of services for the commission of terrorist acts or the financing of terrorism and the collection of property, redefine terrorist acts and expand the definition of a terrorist “to include persons who contribute to the commission of a terrorist act.” National Security Minister Edmund Dillon revealed last week that 130 nationals are believed to have left TT to join terrorist organisations, especially the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). (See page 5) An American news network also deemed TT as having more terrorists than any of the seven countries on which the US imposed a travel ban. At the post-Cabinet news briefing on Thursday, Al-Rawi listed a slew of measures to address terrorism, following the news that there were about 130 citizens who have gone abroad to join terrorist organisations. The measures include harsh penalties targeting those supporting terrorist groups as well as provisions to address FTF’s.

However, Mohammed described the proposed amendments as “a violation of our human rights as regards to our freedom of movement, travel” saying “we see this as an act of discrimination and victimization against all Muslims in Trinidad and Tobago.” “We are not going to accept this piece of draconian law in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

Mohammed said any Muslim who joins ISIS rarely return to their countries. The intention which Muslims “have in their hearts when they decide to join ISIS” is to “travel to Syria to fight in the part of Allah and if they die, they believe they would die as martyrs.” “They believe this would be their gateway to heaven. So, they have no intention of returning to Trinidad and Tobago,” Mohammed stated, adding, “so why inconvenience the 120,000 Muslims because 130 Muslims are fighting in Syria.” He noted the amendments would complicate the lives of Trinidad Muslims locally and abroad as this would make it “difficult and expensive for Muslims to fulfil their religious duties.” “Trinidad Muslims living and working in the Middle East, their lives would be negatively affected by this amendment. They may not even be able to return to Trinidad.

Our humanitarian work in that part of the world will be a major problem,” he stated.

Mohammed said Government should instead focus its attention on the “unacceptable level of crime in our country and find solutions.” Head of the Islamic Front Umar Abdullah also called for the entire Anti-Terrorism Act to be repealed.

“I am actually calling for the entire Anti-Terrorism Act to be repealed and some other measure, some other mechanism be put in place to manage the idea of terrorism because as far as I am concerned, the Attorney General (Faris Al-Rawi) and the Minister of National Security (Edmund Dillon) do not understand the meaning of the term,” he said.

Speaking in the wake of the Government’s proposals to bolster the existing anti-terrorism laws and address, specifically, FTFs, Abdullah said the Government should have consulted with the Muslim groups before formulating its proposals.

“My concern may be somewhat different from the rest of the Muslim community because what we are asking is that the Government sit with us and have those discussions and consult with us before they go into Parliament and create laws that are going to infringe on the rights and privileges of not just Muslims but the entire population as well,” he said.

“When you go through the proposals clearly, you will see that not only Muslims are going to be affected by it, non-Muslims as well.” Abdullah suggested.

He said a meeting of Muslim groups was being planned for 2 pm today at the Islamic Missionary Guild, Kelly Village, to discuss the proposals. Mohammed is expected to host the meeting.

“We are hopeful that from that meeting, we are going to get a consensus from the Muslim community on the way forward,” Abdullah said.

“It is something that we have to treat with in this manner. It is not just my voice or Imtiaz’ voice but the entire Muslim community has to come together an actually take a stance on this position.

The AG could not be reached for comment.