Trinidad National Security Minister Edmund Dillon. Photo: The Daily Observer

Speaking in the Senate on Tuesday, Dillion, who has already acknowledged that Trinidad and Tobago nationals are fighting alongside the ISIS terrorist group, said that the authorities were also beefing up immigration controls and deepening surveillance measures in light of the attack in Paris last weekend that killed more than 129 people.

“This government wants to make it abundantly clear that it recognises the global terrorist threat posed by ISIS and the horrific atrocities recently committed on the French people by the ISIS phenomenon,” Dillon told the Senate.

He said in addition to tightening customs inspections at airports and sea ports, re-enforcing aerial and maritime surveillance patrols, Port of Spain would  continue to liaise with international partners with respect to intelligence and information, especially in relation to Trinidadian citizens who are participating in the ISIS phenomenon.

Dillon said that Trinidad and Tobago would continue to work with institutions such as the Joint Regional Communications Centre and the Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre (RIFC) – the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) intelligence structure that involves Aruba, Canada and the United States – to provide the necessary intelligence that will allow the country to be proactive in dealing with the situation.

“Internationally, we continue to liaise with our international partners with respect to intelligence that can be provided based on their presence; based on their intelligence agencies in the area of operations,” Dillon said.

He told legislators that he is holding talks with Attorney General Faris Al Rawi over measures to deal with the matter of Trinidadians returning home after participating in activities with ISIS.

“Madam President, a discussion, a conversation is taking place with the Attorney General of which I cannot provide any more details than that,” Dillon said, adding he was also unable to “give an accurate figure” regarding the number of nationals fighting with ISIS.

“We are still awaiting confirmation from our intelligence partners as to the amount of Trinidadian citizens involved in the ISIS phenomenon at this point in time. I don’t want to average. You cannot average people.
“You have to be exact. So Madam President I prefer to wait until we have confirmation to get the exact figure based on intelligence.”

Meanwhile, former national security minister Gary Griffith has warned against “burying our heads in the sand” as it relates to possible terrorist activities here.

“When I was minister, terrorism was one of the front burner issues because I anticipated that it would have reached a situation where it would be a worldwide concern,” Griffith said, adding “terrorism is a global concern at this time and Trinidad and Tobago is part of the globe so obviously there will be a threat for Trinidad and Tobago and what we need to do is not just bury our heads in the sand and to say that there is no threat and there is no concern.
“We need to put specific measures in place to provide a deterrent as quickly as possible and that can only be done through specific agencies being implemented, which we do not have,” he said, suggesting the establishment of a counter-terrorist intelligence unit.

“Our intelligence agencies do not have a specific unit primarily targeting and monitoring terrorists within our country, international terrorists who might be moving around the Caribbean and trying to get into Trinidad and Tobago, or even persons who are financially aiding and abetting persons who want to become terrorists or moving from here to get to Syria.
“It is critical that we have an intelligence unit to monitor these individuals, so we need to have an intelligence unit, an operational unit to deal with the tactical strike force and the re-energising of the National Operations Centre,” Griffith said.