With the increasing security threats facing the European countries at the present time, the most important of which is the increasing number of return of the Europeans who took part in the fighting with the terrorist organization "Da'ash" after losing its control in Iraq and Syria to their countries, the importance of examining the procedures adopted by these countries To address the factors that lead to extremism and terrorism among its citizens, and those that push some of them to sympathize with extremist organizations inside and outside the continent.
In this context, the study by Robin Simkox, entitled "Assessing Europe's Efforts to Oppose Islamic Extremism", issued by the Hudson Institute in March 2019, discusses preventive programs by four European countries (the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and France) Has been subjected to terrorist attacks over the past years to address the factors that lead to extremism and facilitate the integration of refugees within European societies.
Evaluation of British strategy
Robben points out that between January 2014 and December, the UK saw 37 incidents between terrorist attacks and violence, which caused a large number of deaths and injuries. He says British intelligence has arrested 3,000 people for questioning. The study notes that London has developed a strategy to address terrorist threats, which has focused largely on the mechanism for preventing or preventing terrorist attacks, which is the responsibility of local government institutions, which played a central role in preventing the financing of terrorist organizations.
But after the Conservative and Liberal Democrats' coalition came to power in May 2010, the British government no longer relies on local councils but relies on the Ministry of the Interior to develop a strategy to tackle all forms of ideological extremism, including terrorism and nonviolent extremism. The UK counterterrorism strategy includes cooperation with Islamic organizations, non-opposition to values of human rights, equality before the law, democracy and full participation in society, and a number of legislation requiring prisons, hospitals, schools and universities to provide training programs to help identify people at risk of extremism.
The British government has issued a number of initiatives aimed at focusing on violent and nonviolent extremism, including the official review of the Muslim Brotherhood, which began in 2014, which concluded that its ideology both inside and outside the United Kingdom ran counter to the values on which the kingdom was founded, National and British National Security.
Rubin criticizes the strategy of countering radicalism in 2015 because it has not reached a firm approach to defeating extremists and challenging their ideology. The committee responsible for its review recommended a greater focus on British values and integration of immigrants. The British government launched the Anti-Extremism Committee in 2018, headed by Sarah Khani (critical of extremist ideologies), which concluded that London's exit from the EU would affect the agenda to combat extremism and integrate immigrants.
German prevention policies
According to the study, Germany between January 2014 and December last year saw 34 violent acts, resulting in nine injuries. According to statistics from the German Interior Ministry, by early 2017 more than 1,000 Germans had left for Syria, about 300 of whom had returned to the refugees who had fled. Rubin believes that the terrorist threat to Berlin is still very high, with security problems directly related to its asylum policies. The government has received nearly 1.5 million asylum seekers, mostly from Muslim-majority countries. However, as these threats persist, , The German government decided to deport those who have no legal right to remain in the country, especially as asylum seekers have committed a number of crimes, including rape.
The researcher stresses that the asylum policies pursued by the German government led to a great controversy within the community. A poll conducted by the Chatham House in February 2017 found that 53% of Germans agree that additional immigration from Muslim-majority countries should be stopped.
The study notes that Germany has focused on prevention policies, adopting a number of anti-terrorism programs since 1992, unlike other European countries. The prevention activities focus not only on the violence of some Muslim citizens, but on the far right, and on the killings committed by neo-Nazis.
The German government is currently focusing its efforts on countering all forms of extremism through a comprehensive strategy to prevent extremism and promote democracy published in July 2016. The government has also spent more money on prevention programs in 2017.
More sophisticated policy
The study points out that Sweden's strategy to combat violent extremism and terrorism is the most developed among European countries. Its approach to prevention focuses on crime prevention, stopping violence and addressing grievances, rather than on nonviolent ideological treatment through commitment to freedom of expression.
Prevention is the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture and Democracy. This reflects the fact that Sweden believes that the promotion of human rights and democracy is the best barrier to violence and terrorism. At a later stage, it was placed under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice. In January 2018, a Center for the Prevention of Violent Extremism was established under the supervision of the National Crime Prevention Council of the Ministry, which is charged with developing knowledge-based work and intersectoral action to prevent violent extremism at national, regional and local levels.
The major challenge to prevention efforts is the central government's lack of power, he says, noting that there are 290 municipalities in Sweden (branches of local government) that have autonomy in providing social services and education. Despite the appointment of a national coordinator, whose main task is to develop and strengthen ongoing work at the local level and to ensure cooperation between government authorities, municipalities and civil society organizations, the State continues to face a major challenge in integrating the large number of asylum seekers and migrants who have accepted them after 2015, 163,000 asylum seekers were received that year, mostly from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
To combat this phenomenon, the Government has proposed the deportation of those who do not have identity papers or who come from war zones. However, this proposal faced some problems, especially after an asylum seeker from Uzbekistan carried out an attack in April 2017.
The study indicates that there is considerable evidence that the integration of these refugees into society has not been successful. Some 23 per cent of non-European migrants in Sweden are unemployed, compared with 4 per cent of Swedish citizens, which leads to increased levels of violence within migrant communities, With firearms associated with gangs.
Despite all this, Swedish officials - according to the study - have a generally positive attitude towards asylum, see their willingness to receive a large number of asylum seekers as a global commitment, and welcome refugees as support for the economy. The country had a notable success in integrating those fleeing the Balkans in the 1990s, but a European Commission survey in April 2018 found that 73% of respondents did not believe that integration of immigrants was successful in Sweden.
The French experience
Although the French Heritage Foundation has revealed in its report that Paris is the European country that is subjected to many terrorist attacks, it has an amazingly successful pattern of integration of Muslims into French society. Between January 2014 and December 2018, the state faced 87 accidents, resulting in 30 casualties and 57 deaths. The study shows the growth of the Salafi trend at a rapid pace in French society, where the Central Intelligence Agency of the French government estimates that there are about 50 thousand Salafis in France today.
The researcher pointed out that extremism is spreading in France for several reasons, including: the state's strong commitment to secularism, racist attitudes toward immigrants from North Africa, and hostility towards Muslims. The study quotes an article published in January 2015 that the radical secularism of Paris has set it in a collision course with Islamic practices.
Even though France has adopted a different approach from other European countries to enter the Islamic regions, there has been a trend within the country that it is ready to take some policies that incite Muslims, such as closing mosques, banning the veil in public places , And try to stop foreign funding for French mosques. He speaks of the fact that many French Muslims have successfully integrated into society, and there are approximately 20% of the French Muslim army, which means that approximately 26,500 to 53 thousand Muslims serve in the French armed forces. There are approximately six million Muslims living in France, representing about 8.8% of the total population, which reflects the number of Muslims in the country who wish to serve their country as well.
France's confrontation with extremism differs from other European countries. Its policy was less dependent on community leadership and more dependent on psychology and social welfare. But that approach proved to be a failure, which prompted the French Government to take a proactive approach to prevention. In February 2018, France launched a national plan to prevent extremism, embracing a broad-based approach that deepens everything, such as education, sports, local government and private institutions, as well as the development of support for secularism, the use of counter-narratives, and increased government oversight of private education , The removal of illegal terrorist content on the Internet faster, the training of teachers to detect signs of extremism, and greater involvement of mental health professionals.
A set of challenges
The study concluded that Europe faces a range of security challenges associated with increasing rates of violence and extremism. It warns that if there is no integration of immigrants into society, terrorist attacks will increase, and social cohesion will deteriorate, forcing the European citizen to vote for radical political parties that promise to remedy these problems.
Sweden's strategy for countering extremism and terrorism is the most advanced among European countries. Its approach focuses on crime prevention, cessation of violence and grievance, rather than on nonviolent ideological treatment through commitment to freedom of expression.