Terror Via Labour Routes: 36 Bangladeshi Nationals Arrested In Malaysia Over ISIS-Linked Recruitment Plot

The Malaysian police have arrested 36 Bangladeshi nationals accused of establishing a terrorist recruitment cell inspired by the Islamic State, News18 reported.

According to police, the accused were involved in spreading ISIS ideology, recruiting operatives, and planning actions aimed at destabilising the Bangladeshi government from foreign soil.

CNN-News18 reported, citing top intelligence officials, that these arrests are part of a broader trend involving the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and ISIS, who are increasingly using global labour migration routes to establish covert jihadist infrastructure abroad.

The groups are taking advantage of economic desperation, undocumented migration, and financial loopholes to radicalise Bangladeshi workers, especially in Southeast Asia.

Malaysia, which hosts around 500,000 Bangladeshi workers, many undocumented, has emerged as a key hotspot. 

Recruiters reportedly target vulnerable migrants in mosques, worker dormitories, and hostels, radicalising them into sleeper cells.

According to senior intelligence official cited in the News18 report, this is not an isolated case, as similar patterns have earlier been observed in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Italy.

Previous incidents include the 2019 deportation of 14 Bangladeshi workers from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, after hidden weapons were discovered, and the 2021 unmasking of a JMB-linked NGO funding network in Italy. 

In 2022, Singapore deported 26 Bangladeshis for allegedly plotting attacks during Sheikh Hasina’s state visit.

Security analysts note that since the 2016 crackdown in Bangladesh, many JMB operatives have shifted bases to Malaysia, the UAE, Qatar, and Italy. 

The Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar are also suspected recruitment hubs for both JMB and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

India and Myanmar face similar threats. In 2023, Indian agencies arrested 19 JMB operatives who had infiltrated through the Bangladesh–Myanmar border. 

The group has been linked to past terror attacks in India, including the 2014 Burdwan blast and the 2018 Bodh Gaya plot.

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