Strengthening Migration Systems to Prevent Extremism

Note: In Kuala Lumpur on 12 December 2025, the High Court sentenced 29-year-old Bangladeshi national Mohammad Didarul Alam to 10 years’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to supporting the Islamic State/Daesh terrorist group through social media activities on Facebook. The charge, under Section 130J(1)(a) of the Malaysian Penal Code, carries a maximum penalty of up to 40 years’ imprisonment, a fine, and forfeiture of property used in the offence. Investigations by the Royal Malaysia Police’s Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division (E8M) determined that Alam used an account named Al Mubin Islam to post and share propaganda content including photos, videos, statements, and images linked to Daesh/IS. A translated analysis confirmed the material’s link to the extremist group. Despite having no prior criminal record, prosecutors argued the offence posed a serious threat to national security, and urged a strong sentence to deter others, particularly foreign nationals involved in or tempted by extremist activities online. Alam, unrepresented in court, asked for leniency, claiming he came to Malaysia to support his family. The court also ordered that he be deported to Bangladesh upon completion of his sentence. This case highlights Malaysia’s application of anti-terrorism laws to curb digital dissemination of extremist propaganda and emphasizes deterrence in counter-terrorism enforcement.

The dramatic foiling of a planned attack in Delaware that uncovered only when a routine traffic stop revealed weapons, tactical gear, and handwritten plans to assault a police facility, may feel like an incident from a distant context, yet its lessons are deeply relevant to Malaysia.

As the country navigates rising inflows of both legal and illegal migrants from South Asia, the Middle East and neighbouring regions, the Delaware plot underscores how extremist threats can grow quietly within ordinary settings.

The suspect appeared to be well integrated: a former student, no criminal history, and no outward signs of radicalisation. Yet beneath that surface, he had independently adopted extremist beliefs, collected weapons, assessed targets, and developed a coherent attack plan - all while moving undetected in everyday life.

His exposure happened not through sophisticated surveillance or intelligence operations, but because a vigilant police officer pursued what initially appeared to be a minor irregularity. This dynamic, where individuals operate under the radar, is not unfamiliar to Malaysia.

Malaysia’s own experience highlights a similar pattern, albeit in a different operational environment. In June 2025, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) dismantled a clandestine militant network linked to a group of Bangladeshi nationals living and working across various sectors of the Malaysian economy.

This group had embedded themselves within legitimate migrant-labour spaces, using factories, construction sites and service-sector jobs as fronts for recruitment and indoctrination. They built their network through social media, encrypted messaging apps and close-knit community structures, enabling them to avoid drawing attention in a country where migrant populations are large, diverse and often underregulated.

Their activities were not explosive or dramatic; instead, they worked quietly, leveraging anonymity and the gaps in Malaysia’s migration oversight. This case reveals how extremist motivations can take root inside communities that appear entirely ordinary from the outside - the very same lesson demonstrated by the Delaware arrest.

These two contexts, though separated by geography, share important similarities that Malaysia cannot afford to ignore. In both cases, the individuals involved were not members of well-known terrorist organisations. They did not operate within large, structured cells.

Instead, they radicalised quietly, developed their ideologies in private, and built operational plans through digital content, peer influence and self-directed learning. Their anonymity was their strength. They moved through systems that did not have the capacity or sometimes the legal authority to monitor subtle shifts in behaviour or ideology.

For Malaysia, a nation with millions of foreign workers, asylum seekers and undocumented individuals, this raises a pressing question: how should national security be reimagined in an era where threats may come not from organised groups but from lone actors or micro-networks hidden within the vastness of migrant communities?

The answer begins with acknowledging that the core problem is not migration itself, but the opacity surrounding how migration is managed. Malaysia’s migrant economy is heavily dependent on informal labour networks, recruitment agents, and overlapping layers of documentation.

Many migrants enter legally but fall into irregular status due to bureaucratic hurdles or exploitative intermediaries. Others arrive through unofficial routes, blending into established communities that provide cover.

This structural imperviousness creates blind spots - spaces where extremist actors can hide, influence, and recruit without detection. When communities exist in the shadows, they become vulnerable both to exploitation by criminals and manipulation by extremist ideologues.

The challenge for Malaysia is therefore not merely to police migrants, but to build a transparent, predictable and humane system that leaves fewer shadows for harmful networks to thrive.

Addressing this challenge requires several interconnected reforms. First, documentation must be the foundation. When a large proportion of the migrant population is undocumented or semi-documented, enforcement becomes reactive and inconsistent.

Streamlining work-permit systems, digitising processes, and reducing reliance on middlemen would reduce vulnerabilities and increase visibility. A documented migrant population is easier to protect, easier to monitor, and harder for extremist groups to penetrate.

Second, integration should be treated as an essential component of national security, not simply a social issue. Isolated migrants, those who lack language support, legal literacy, community ties or stable employment are far more susceptible to extremist recruitment. Malaysia can adapt lessons from countries that have successfully used integration to reduce security risks.

Community engagement programmes, neighbourhood liaison officers, partnerships with civil-society organisations and fair-labour protections would reduce social alienation and build trust between migrant communities and the state. When migrants feel protected and included, they are more likely to report suspicious activities and less likely to fall prey to radical narratives.

Third, frontline policing and intelligence work must evolve. The Delaware case was uncovered because a police officer trusted his instincts. The Bangladesh-linked network in Malaysia was dismantled through intelligence-led operations that tracked digital behaviour and community networks.

Malaysia’s enforcement agencies must continue strengthening their capacity to identify behavioural anomalies, monitor online spaces responsibly and collaborate across departments. Officers at borders, transport hubs and labour hotspots need ongoing training, not only in enforcement but also in understanding the social dynamics of migrant communities.

Fourth, technology can support, not replace, human judgment. Digital work permits, biometric systems and data analytics can help detect unusual patterns where multiple individuals connected to the same numbers, overlapping addresses, unexplained fund flows, or sudden congregations of individuals around specific actors. These tools must be used carefully to avoid bias, but when deployed transparently, they can enhance early-warning capabilities.

Fifth, Malaysia must adopt a balanced approach that is firm yet fair. Heavy-handed crackdowns often drive migrants underground, making them harder to monitor and easier for extremists to manipulate. Sustainable security requires a combination of credible enforcement, clear legal pathways for regularisation, consistent oversight of employers, and community-based monitoring that empowers migrants rather than intimidates them.

Ultimately, both the Delaware incident and the dismantling of the Bangladeshi militant network point to a fundamental truth: extremism thrives in environments where systems lack clarity, where people live in the margins, and where institutions struggle to keep pace with mobility and complexity. Migration is not the threat; unmanaged migration is. The real danger lies not in the presence of foreigners but in the structural gaps that leave communities unseen and unsupported. As Malaysia continues to rely on migrant labour and experiences new waves of arrivals from conflict-affected regions, the nation faces a choice.

It can modernise its migration governance with transparency, fairness and foresight or risk allowing small, hidden threats to grow into national crises. The path to security lies not in walls or fear, but in building a system where every person, regardless of origin, is visible, accounted for and treated with dignity.

06.12.2025

Kuala Lumpur.

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