As published by the Lobo Institute on April 14, 2020:

by Zack Baddorf, Lobo Institute Senior Advisor

The Republic of Maldives, a small archipelago of 1,192 islands located southwest of India in the Arabian Sea, has the highest number of foreign fighters per capita in a non-Arab country.[1] An estimated 200 Maldivians – one in 2,000 people on the islands – joined ISIS in Iraq or Syria.[2] [3] While other researchers estimate just 20 to 100 Maldivians have become foreign fighters in recent years, the Maldivian government has confirmed at least 69 ended up in Syria or Iraq.[4] [5]

While these numbers are relatively paltry given that an estimated 30,000 foreigners may have joined ISIS, the Maldives nonetheless remains a “fertile ground for transnational jihadist recruitment” with its population of about 400,000.[6] [7] Maldivian fighters have joined ISIS, Al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al Nusra, the Islamic Front and Free Syrian Army (FSA).[8]

Islam was adopted in the Maldives as the state religion in 1153.[9] The Maldives gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1965 and then became an Islamic Sultanate. In 1967, the country became a republic, but Islam remains the official religion of the Maldives. The penal code incorporates shariah (Islamic law) and the constitution allows for inclusion of shariah in legal proceedings.[10] [11]

In the past decade, a “religious revival” by Salafists, Wahhabists and other fundamentalists has swept through the islands.[12] Since 2014, Saudi Arabic has pledged at least $1 million for Islamic programs, schools and mosques.[13] Maldivians have also received scholarships to study Islam in madrassas in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, returning home with a more fundamentalist interpretation of the Quran.[14] A former Maldivian president claimed the Saudi’s “deeply conservative view of Islam” is “at odds with the islands’ traditions.”[15]

In a 2015 poll, 90.80 percent of Maldivians agreed that flogging, stoning to death, the death penalty and amputation of the arms should be implemented.[16] An estimated 98.4 percent of Maldivians are Sunni Muslim.[17] A 1994 law restricts the freedom of Maldivians to practice any other religion except Islam.[18]

With one third of the country’s population living in the densely populated capital city of Malé, the result has been “inevitable societal ills such as gang culture, drug abuse, unemployment, radicalization, political violence and a widening socio-economic gap.”[19] Radicalized gang members have physically assaulted, abducted or murdered Maldivians who they perceived to be committing un-Islamic acts, including moderate clerics, political figures, journalists and bloggers.[20] In one prominent example, a Maldivian journalist was abducted in 2014 and killed at sea by Islamist militants. More recently, in 2017, a blogger who denounced Islamist militancy and state corruption was murdered.[21]

Islamists terrorists have perpetrated just one attack in the Maldives, injuring 12 foreigners including British, Japanese and Chinese tourists.[22] [23] The Maldivian security forces also arrested two Maldivians accused of “conspiring with ISIS in a suicide attack plot” and eight others for conspiracy to commit other attacks.[24]

While the Maldivian government has not released detailed demographic details of the Maldivians who went to fight in Iraq and Syria, anecdotal open-source material provides some insight into the fighters’ backgrounds. Fighters have included students, religious leaders, former military personnel, and criminals. For example, more than a dozen gang members left to Syria in January 2015. A number of these fighters were wanted for various crimes or had previous convictions of trafficking, assault and murder.[25] [26]

While ages of the Maldivian in Iraq and Syria have not been released, the ages have varied widely. Groups of 6 to 10 Maldivians have departed for Syria together. The groups have included “babies less than a year old, a girl aged 11, a number of women in their 20s to mid-40s, and men aged anywhere between 18 and late 40s.”[27]

Media have often shared reductionist representations of women in ISIS, yet one Maldivian woman who joined ISIS conceded that she received military training and carried a weapon. “Every man carried a gun. Every woman, too,” she said.[28] The gender breakdown of Maldivian foreign terrorist fighters is unclear from open source material. Most of the fighters came from Malé, yet some are from “poor fishing communities on outlying islands.”[29] According to another report, “poor young people from outlying islands are vulnerable to recruitment.”[30] For example, residents of the “most conservative” island Himandhoo left for Syria and Iraq to join ISIS. Previously, Himandhoo residents fought jihad in Afghanistan.[31]

Economics appears to have motivated some Maldivian ISIS recruits. “For many young men here, Syria is an economic and moral opportunity,” one researcher found.[32] The U.S. State Department likewise reported that “marginalized” young Maldivians are “at risk of becoming radicalized and some have already joined violent extremist groups.”[33] The CIA estimates 15 percent of the country live below the poverty line as of 2009.[34] Young people are chronically unemployed and underemployed, making them “easy targets” for radicalization in mosques and online.[35] However, data indicates that ISIS foreign fighters also originate from countries with “high levels of economic development, low income inequality, and highly developed political institutions.”[36]

Maldivian ISIS members have also been influenced by the tourism on the island where drugs and alcohol are consumed and where women wear bikinis, not hijabs or niqabs. About 1.3 million tourists visit the islands annually, yielding $3.5 billion in 2017 – a third of the country’s gross domestic product.[37] [38] One Maldivian who took his mother, wife and 10-year-old sister to Syria called the Maldives a “land of sin” and refused to pray with other villagers. He wanted to live in a “pure Islamic state.” This man was radicalized online where Maldivian religious organizations and individuals have disseminated the narrative that the Maldives is a sinful place. [39] About 43 percent of Maldivians are active on social media — the highest percentage in South Asia.[40]

Maldivians have reportedly traveled to Syria through Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and Pakistan.”[41] [42] Maldivian security forces randomly questioned Maldivian citizens traveling by air to Turkey.[43] Once they joined, they were used as “suicide bombers, fighters, and support personnel.”[44]

ISIS may be defeated on the battlefield, but “serious concerns” remain of attacks by Maldivians within the Maldives, Europe, or the U.S., according to a Western diplomat in the region.[45] In a 2015 YouTube video with an ISIS flag logo, three masked men threatened to kill the Maldivian president and vice president and conduct terrorist attacks in the Maldives, including against tourist resorts. One researcher found that “organised jihadist networks of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups operate in Maldives.”[46] Indeed, in September 2019, the U.S. sanctioned a Maldivian for his recruiting people, especially from criminal gangs, to join ISIS and the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.[47] [48]

According to the Jamestown Foundation, Maldivian fighters have returned from Syria and Pakistan.[49] The Maldivian police reported “no confirmed cases of returning foreign terrorist fighters.”[50] Three Maldivians caught attempting to cross into Syria via Turkey were acquitted of attempting to join a terror group.[51]

While the U.S. State Department reports “no specific, credible threats (or attacks) directed against U.S. citizens or interests in Maldives,” travelers are advised to exercise “increased caution” due to the terror threat. The travel warning indicates terror groups “may conduct attacks with little or no warning,” including against tourist locations.[52] [53] Maldivian government officials say there is no threat to tourists.[54] A former Maldivian president claimed extremists won’t stage attacks against the tourist industry because they launder money through it.[55] A Maldivian president, multiple ministers and other government officials have been accused of “widespread corruption,” involving laundering, bribery and embezzlement.[56] The police established a terrorist financing intelligence unit in 2014, but corruption could permit violent extremist organizations to use the Maldives as a place to hide its cash reserves or as an intermediary. [57]

One analyst predicts “extremist incidents may rise” if the country remains on its current trajectory.[58] Additional attacks within the Maldives seem likely, though not inevitably against foreigners. Given the weak law enforcement and judicial system, prevalence of corruption, socio-economic conditions, and imported religious fundamentalism, the environment in the Maldives sets the conditions for further radicalization within the islands and an opportune place for extremists to find recruits for future battlefields elsewhere.

Zack Baddorf is a national security and foreign policy professional focusing on researching disinformation and countering violent extremist propaganda. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Baddorf is a freelance journalist and filmmaker for more than 15 years, filing for The New York Times, BBC, and many other outlets. He is the executive director and co-founder of Military Veterans in Journalism and the senior advisor for the Lobo Institute.

[1]  Francesca Borri, Destination Paradise: Among the Jihadists in the Maldives, (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2018).

[2] “The World Factbook: Maldives,” Central Intelligence Agency, February 1, 2018, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mv.html.

[3] Chloe Cornish, “Maldivian Families Strive to Bring Home Isis Fighters’ Children,” Financial Times, June 17, 2019, https://www.ft.com/content/100797f0-90d5-11e9-aea1-2b1d33ac3271.

[4] “FOREIGN FIGHTERS: An Updated Assessment of the Flow of Foreign Fighters into Syria and Iraq,” The Soufan Group, December 2015, http://soufangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TSG_ForeignFightersUpdate_FINAL3.pdf.

[5] Sathiya Moorthy, “After SL Serial-Blasts, Maldives Displays Cautious Optimism,” ORF, May 22, 2019, https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/after-sl-serial-blasts-maldives-displays-cautious-optimism-51118/

[6] “As ISIS Fighters Return Home, Mobilizing Communities,” United States Institute of Peace, June 15, 2017, https://www.usip.org/publications/2017/06/isis-fighters-return-home-mobilizing-communities

[7] Iromi Dharmawardhane, “Maldives,” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 8, no. 1 (2015): 63-69. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26369568

[8] Ibid.

[9] “Preliminary Assessment of Radicalisation in the Maldives,” Maldivian Democracy Network, 2015, https://www.scribd.com/document/428892759/MDN-Preliminary-Assessment-of-Radicalisation-in-the-Maldives-Final#download.

[10] Penal Code, Attorney General’s Office of Maldives, Sept. 2, 2004, http://www.agoffice.gov.mv/pdf/sublawe/PC1.pdf.

[11] Abdullahi A. An-Na’im, “Maldives, Republic of,” Islamic Family Law, https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/islamic-family-law/home/research/legal-profiles/maldives-republic-of/

[12]  “Preliminary Assessment of Radicalisation in the Maldives,” Maldivian Democracy Network, 2015, https://www.scribd.com/document/428892759/MDN-Preliminary-Assessment-of-Radicalisation-in-the-Maldives-Final#download.

[13] Michael Safi, “Maldives blogger stabbed to death in capital,” The Guardian, Apr. 23, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/23/maldives-blogger-yameen-rasheed-stabbed-to-death-in-capital.

[14] Animesh Roul, “The Threat from Rising Extremism in the Maldives,” CTC Sentinel, March 2013, https://ctc.usma.edu/the-threat-from-rising-extremism-in-the-maldives

[15] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/islamic-state-the-maldives-a-recruiting-paradise-for-jihadists-9731574.html

[16] “Preliminary Assessment of Radicalisation in the Maldives,” Maldivian Democracy Network, 2015, https://www.scribd.com/document/428892759/MDN-Preliminary-Assessment-of-Radicalisation-in-the-Maldives-Final#download.

[17] Siddharthya Roy, “The Maldives: The New Kid on the Islamist Block,” The Diplomat, March 4, 2019, https://thediplomat.com/2019/03/the-maldives-the-new-kid-on-the-islamist-block/

[18] “Maldives,” Aid to the Church In Need Religious Freedom Report, Accessed Nov, 10, 2019, https://religious-freedom-report.org/pdf_en/?pais=459

[19] “Preliminary Assessment of Radicalisation in the Maldives,” Maldivian Democracy Network, 2015, https://www.scribd.com/document/428892759/MDN-Preliminary-Assessment-of-Radicalisation-in-the-Maldives-Final#download.

[20] Iromi Dharmawardhane, “Maldives,” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 8, no. 1 (2015): 63-69. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26369568

[21] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-maldives-rights-journalist/commission-says-maldives-journalist-was-murdered-by-islamist-militants-idUSKCN1VN0EA

[22] Animesh Roul, “The Threat from Rising Extremism in the Maldives,” CTC Sentinel, March 2013, https://ctc.usma.edu/the-threat-from-rising-extremism-in-the-maldives

[23] Mahwish Hafeez, “Growing Islamic militancy in Maldives,” Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, June 2014, http://issi.org.pk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/1303370663_95467770.pdf

[24] “Country Reports on Terrorism 2017,” U.S. State Department, September 2018, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/crt_2017.pdf

[25] Jason Burke, “Paradise Jihadis: Maldives Sees Surge in Young Muslims Leaving for Syria,” The Guardian, Feb. 26, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/paradise-jihadis-maldives-islamic-extremism-syria

[26] Iromi Dharmawardhane, “Maldives,” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 8, no. 1 (2015): 63-69. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26369568

[27] Azra Naseem, “Leaving ‘Paradise’ for Jihad: Maldivian Fighters in Syria, and the Internet,” VOX-Pol, Jan. 10, 2017, https://www.voxpol.eu/leaving-paradise-for-jihad-maldivian-fighters-in-syria-and-the-internet

[28] Robin Wright, “The Dangerous Dregs of ISIS,” The New Yorker, April 19, 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-dangerous-dregs-of-isis

[29] Jason Burke, “Paradise Jihadis: Maldives Sees Surge in Young Muslims Leaving for Syria,” The Guardian, Feb. 26, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/paradise-jihadis-maldives-islamic-extremism-syria

[30] “Maldives ‘Extremely Worried’ about ISIS Recruitment: Official,” The Straits Times, March 14, 2016, https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/maldives-extremely-worried-about-isis-recruitment-official

[31] Francesca Borri, “Review of Destination Paradise. Among the Jihadists of the Maldives,” European Eye on Radicalization, Dec. 5, 2018, https://eeradicalization.com/review-of-destination-paradise-among-the-jihadists-of-the-maldives/

[32] Francesca Borri, “Where Jihadists Are Heroes,” NRC, March 14, 2017, https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2017/where-jihadists-are-heroes/

[33] “Country Reports: South and Central Asia Overview,” U.S. Department of State, 2015, https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015/257518.htm

[34] “The World Factbook: Maldives,” Central Intelligence Agency, February 1, 2018, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mv.html

[35] Kirklin J. Bateman, “Emerging violent radicalism in the Maldives,” in Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and South East Asia,

ed. Shanthie Mariet D’Souza (New York: Routledge, 2019).

[36] Efaim Benmelech and Esteban Klor, “What Explains the Flow of Foreign Fighters to ISIS?” Northwestern University, April 2016,  https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/benmelech/html/BenmelechPapers/ISIS_April_13_2016_Effi_final.pdf

[37] Harry de Quetteville, “Terrorists in Paradise: Why Did the Maldives Become One of the World’s Biggest Exporters of Isil Foot Soldiers?” The Telegraph, Oct. 19, 2018, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/19/terrorists-paradisewhy-did-maldives-become-one-worlds-biggest/

[38] Mohamed Junayd, “Maldives Tries to Fight off Travel Alerts as Tourists Stay Away,” Reuters, Feb. 14, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-maldives-politics-tourism/maldives-tries-to-fight-off-travel-alerts-as-tourists-stay-away-idUSKCN1FY10D

[39] Jason Burke, “Paradise Jihadis: Maldives Sees Surge in Young Muslims Leaving for Syria,” The Guardian, Feb. 26, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/paradise-jihadis-maldives-islamic-extremism-syria

[40] Azra Naseem, “Leaving ‘Paradise’ for Jihad: Maldivian Fighters in Syria, and the Internet,” VOX-Pol, Jan. 10, 2017, https://www.voxpol.eu/leaving-paradise-for-jihad-maldivian-fighters-in-syria-and-the-internet

[41] Kirklin J. Bateman, “Emerging violent radicalism in the Maldives,” in Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and South East Asia,

ed. Shanthie Mariet D’Souza (New York: Routledge, 2019).

[42] Iromi Dharmawardhane, “Maldives,” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 8, no. 1 (2015): 63-69. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26369568

[43] “Country Reports: South and Central Asia Overview,” U.S. Department of State, 2015, https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015/257518.htm

[44] Kirklin J. Bateman, “Emerging violent radicalism in the Maldives,” in Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and South East Asia,

ed. Shanthie Mariet D’Souza (New York: Routledge, 2019).

[45] Jason Burke, “Paradise Jihadis: Maldives Sees Surge in Young Muslims Leaving for Syria,” The Guardian, Feb. 26, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/paradise-jihadis-maldives-islamic-extremism-syria

[46] Iromi Dharmawardhane, “Maldives,” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 8, no. 1 (2015): 63-69. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26369568

[47] Sathiya Moorthy, “Maldives: Designation Brings US Terror War Closer?” ORF, Sept. 13, 2019, https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/maldives-designation-us-terror-war-closer-55422/

[48] “Treasury Targets Wide Range of Terrorists and Their Supporters Using Enhanced Counterterrorism Sanctions Authorities,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Sept. 10, 2019, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm772

[49] Animesh Roul, “The Maldives Faces Dual Challenge of Terrorist Returnees and Extremist Hate Campaigns,” Terrorism Monitor, https://jamestown.org/program/the-maldives-faces-dual-challenge-of-terrorist-returnees-and-extremist-hate-campaigns/

[50] “Country Reports on Terrorism 2017,” U.S. State Department, September 2018, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/crt_2017.pdf

[51] Aishath Shaany, “Court frees the trio charged with attempting to join Syrian civil conflict,” raajje.mv, Oct. 22, 2017, https://raajje.mv/20024

[52] “Maldives Travel Advisory,” U.S. Department of State, May 2, 2019, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/maldives-travel-advisory.html

[53] https://www.osac.gov/Content/Report/b725fb42-776a-444d-8002-16688cc101ce

[54] Jason Burke, “Paradise Jihadis: Maldives Sees Surge in Young Muslims Leaving for Syria,” The Guardian, Feb. 26, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/paradise-jihadis-maldives-islamic-extremism-syria

[55] Oliver Wright, “Islamic State: The Maldives – a recruiting paradise for jihadists,” The Independent, Sept. 14, 2014, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/islamic-state-the-maldives-a-recruiting-paradise-for-jihadists-9731574.html

[56] Will Jordan, “Report exposes Maldives ‘orgy of corruption’ ahead of election,” Al Jazeera, Sept. 18, 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/report-exposes-maldives-orgy-corruption-election-180917121608752.html

[57] “Financial Intelligence Unit,” Maldives Monetary Authority, Accessed Nov. 11, 2019, http://www.mma.gov.mv/#/fiu

[58] Animesh Roul, “The Threat from Rising Extremism in the Maldives,” CTC Sentinel, March 2013, https://ctc.usma.edu/the-threat-from-rising-extremism-in-the-maldives