Nearly US$1 million in terrorism funds channelled into Southeast Asia in 2014-15, study finds

Security ministers from more than 20 countries meeting in Bali have been told that groups such as Islamic State are increasingly channelling funds into Southeast Asia to finance terrorism.

A regional risk assessment jointly prepared by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia also warned that the use of charities and non-profit groups to support terrorism was rising. Indonesia’s financial intelligence agency – the PPATK – estimates that foreign sources transferred more than US$763,000 to fund terrorism in the country between 2014 and 2015.

“Given only small sums are required to stage a deadly attack, even modest amounts of funding from foreign terrorist groups pose a significant risk to the region’s security,” the assessment said. “The cross-border movement of cash is the highest-risk method of moving terrorism funds across the region.”

The assessment also said that porous land borders and close maritime boundaries allow extremists and terrorist networks in parts of the region to move funds across borders with ease, adding that poor visibility over cash smuggling routes compounds the problem.

The counterterrorism financing summit, also attended by representatives from countries including the US, India, the UK and China, is the first major gathering of international counterterrorism officials since attacks earlier this year in France, Germany, the US and Indonesia. Bali itself was hit by a terrorist bombing in 2002 that killed more than 200 people.

Scott Stewart, vice-president for tactical analysis at the US-based private sector security firm Stratfor, said that while the regional terrorism threat had fallen a notch since the Bali attacks, cells with the ability to conduct small-scale attacks using pipe bombs and firearms remained a concern.