BEIJING: More than 20 Muslim organizations in Hong Kong have jointly released an open letter calling for religious tolerance and solidarity. The “peace letter” comes amid reports that ISIS is recruiting Muslim migrants working in the city.

"We request everyone not to judge the religion by the actions of a few, rather judge it by its original scriptures and sources. There are bad apples in every basket,” the letter said. It expressed concern over verbal abuse heaped on Indonesian workers after the media carried reports of ISIS recruitment.

A Chinese anti-terrorism expert has said the Islamic State or ISIS might target Hong Kong as a base for recruiting and transporting jihadists. He cited the city’s vast population of Muslim domestic workers and the easy connectivity with Indonesia among the reasons.

Hong Kong is a convenient destination with easy connections with Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, which have significant Muslim populations and threats of infiltration by ISIS, Yang Nu, an anti-terrorism professor at Lanzhou University in northwest China's Gansu province, told the Hong Kong-based Oriental Press Group.

The city also has a visa exemption arrangement with Turkey making it easy for residents to head to the Middle East. It would also be difficult to control and monitor those who return to Hong Kong after having fought with or trained with Islamic State, he said.

Hong Kong’s local media said an Indonesian man and his pregnant wife recently left the city after burrowing funds from friends saying he was going to Syria. Romlah Rosedah, head of the Indonesian Migrant Muslim Alliance, told the local media that she has heard of such rumors but she had no personal contact with the suspects.

Chinese police have earlier caught Muslim Ughurs from the disturbed Xinjiang province trying to take a flight to Turkey using fake Turkish passports from Shanghai. The government is worried because Ughurs, who speak a Turkic language, have a strong affinity towards Turkey.

There have been reports that Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong were given handouts which had been published by ISIS members last month. One of the flyers carried the photography of four women in black veils holding an ISIS flag.

The Oriental Press Group the photograph was taken at a recreation club in Hong Kong’s New Territories, and is now being distributed over the social media.

Hong Kong authorities recently refused entry to an Indonesian student on the suspicion that might be an ISIS supporter, the local media said. They also refused entry to two Muslim clerics on suspicion that they had ties with terrorist organizations, and practiced exorcitism.

A Hong Kong police spokesperson said there is currently no specific intelligence suggesting that the city was a terrorist target, but the authorities are stepping up anti-terrorism watch in collaboration with other intelligence agencies.