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Focus on disengaging domestic far right extremism

LETTER | In a 2015 report by the Soufan Group, it was estimated that there were some 600 Southeast Asians who were fighting in Syria. The vast majority were from Indonesia and Malaysia. There are approximately 100 Malaysian individuals and less than a dozen returnees have made it home so far.

We need to bear in mind that the great majority of ISIS recruits who left for Syria intended on relocating into the ‘caliphate’ rather than training to become domestic terrorists. They were motivated by ideological or religious reasons or political-religious reasons. Some were even motivated by the fact that they wanted to provide humanitarian assistance in the war-torn country but ended up joining radical groups over there.

Responses from the Malaysian government and law enforcement agencies have been typical and very much expected – ranging from cancellation of travel documents to facilitating the return of Malaysian jihadists who left to join ISIS in Syria, a guideline that is in accordance to the UN strategy. 

One area of concern within the UN strategy which needs special emphasis is the promotion of dialogue and tolerance to prevent the defamation of religion, religious values, beliefs and cultures.

The focus on this strategy is especially important since it directly tackles the root causes of domestic terrorism where aside from religious extremism, it should also address the problem of far-right extremism which is often overlooked as a complementary motivation factor relevant to the jihadist rhetoric (often inspired by the three factors of religious extremist ideologies, anti-semitism and conspiracy theories).

In places like the US and Europe, we are seeing an increase in violent attacks inspired by far-right extremists which pose a clear domestic terror threat.

Political figures and law enforcement officers may claim that the current geopolitical situation in Malaysia is very different from the west and probably attempt to scuff off this concern but we have previously experienced such incidences in the past, from the 13th May 1969 racial riots to the recent and on-going issues relating to racial and religious polemics.

In France, there are some 500 prisoners currently behind bars who are serving sentence for various terror charges and are undergoing deradicalisation programs which include interreligious dialogues, counter antisemitism and counter conspiracy theories propaganda.

This is apparently a new approach as France have been plagued by the problem of radicalisation in prisons.

In the recent events that unfolded with regards to our deradicalisation program, we need to sincerely ask ourselves how effective are they against the threat of domestic terrorism.

We must be sure that deradicalised terrorists and their sympathisers do not fall into recidivism or sway towards far-right extremism especially when controversial figures are involved in the deradicalisation programs are also alleged to be holding extremist views.

Sun Tzu, in the book The Art of War, once said that "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

Reflecting on this, we need to take a step back and look at our current situation that we’re in.

We may think that we know ourselves better, but do we really know our enemies?


The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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