Father of Bondi Shooter Entered Philippines as Indian National, Say Immigration Officials
Father entered as Indian; ISIS ideology suspected in attack.
Immigration authorities in the Philippines confirmed on December 16, 2025, that Sajid Akram, the 50-year-old father implicated in the Bondi Beach mass shooting alongside his son Naveed, entered the country as an Indian national, with both suspects spending nearly the entire month of November in the archipelago before returning to Australia.
The duo arrived in Manila on November 1, 2025, on a flight from Sydney, declaring the southern province of Davao as their intended destination, according to Bureau of Immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval, who noted their departure from the Philippines on November 28, just days before the deadly assault that claimed 15 lives at a Hanukkah celebration.
Australian investigators are intensively examining whether the pair made contact with Islamist extremists during their extended stay, a line of inquiry that has emerged as central to understanding potential radicalization pathways, with New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon stating that the purpose and locations visited during the trip remain under active investigation.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese indicated that the attack appeared motivated by Islamic State ideology, describing it as driven by an "ideology of hate" that has challenged global security since the group's rise over a decade ago, while authorities recovered improvised explosive devices and two homemade ISIS flags from a vehicle registered to Naveed Akram near the crime scene.
Questions persist regarding prior intelligence on Naveed Akram, an unemployed 24-year-old bricklayer who had drawn the attention of Australian security agencies in 2019 through interviews with him and his associates, though he was not deemed an imminent threat at the time; the perpetrators carried out the 10-minute rampage with long-barrelled firearms before police neutralized Sajid Akram, leaving Naveed in a coma under heavy guard.
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