(Barbados Nation) Attorney General Dale Marshall is warning Barbadians that terrorism threats might be closer to home than they think.
Marshall, who is also Minister of Legal Affairs, said while he was “not trying to scare anybody”, everyone should be concerned about the Caribbean’s reported increase of “radicalised Muslims”, including those in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago.
He was speaking in the House of Assembly on Tuesday as members debated and approved amendments to the Money Laundering And Financing of Terrorism (Prevention And Control) Act, Corporate And Trust Service Providers Act, and Financial Services Commission Act.
The changes were intended to boost provisions against money laundering and terrorism financing.
“I have to caution the Barbadian listener that the tentacles of terrorism, though they may not have seen expression in Barbados, we guard every single day against the possibility of it happening here,” the St Joseph MP said.
“You only need to reflect that as far back as the time of Cricket World Cup [2007], there were individuals . . . from Trinidad and Jamaica who were being watched very carefully not just by regional governments, but by the governments of the United States and England and other places because of their associations with significant terrorist organisations.”
Marshall also reminded Barbadians that “people have gone to fight with ISIS from Trinidad and have returned to Trinidad, and we are seeing within the region an increase in the number of radicalised Muslims.
“So I am not trying to scare anybody but Trinidad is 40 minutes flying time away from Barbados. Trinidadians come and go, Bajans come and go. Terrorism is something that knows no borders; nobody’s passport has on it a stamp under employment, terrorist,” he warned.