On 5th November, the State Secretariat for Migration of Switzerland and ICMPD held a meeting on recent approaches in addressing radicalisation. This was the latest in a series of virtual meetings as part of ICMPD’s Annual Policy Initiative 2020 (API).
The meeting brought together experts from ICMPD’s member states, academia and civil society in the areas of migration, counter-radicalisation and re-radicalisation to facilitate an exchange of experiences and knowledge. The discussion featured recent approaches in the prevention of radicalisation, as well as in de-radicalisation, highlighting the potential opportunities and recommendations for future work.
Ever since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the issues of radicalisation and violent extremism have become the main concerns for both public and policymakers. As issues of radicalisation, extremism and terrorism directly touch upon aspects of both human and state security, a lack of sound policies to answer them might have negative impacts on trust between society and the political system, reducing political stability and social cohesion in the long-run.
After an introduction to the comparative analysis of European counter-radicalisation, counter-terrorist and de-radicalisation policies, participants outlined the characteristics of a radicalised person and the radicalisation processes. The discussion continued by examining the gender role in such processes, as well as the role of migration and integration policies in preventing radicalisation and promoting de-radicalisation. After outlining the elements of recent successful approaches, participants examined the role of technology and artificial intelligence in radicalisation, counter-radicalisation and de-radicalisation, after which they outlined the main opportunities and recommendations for future migration and integration policies.
About the project
ICMPD is dedicating its API 2020 to the issue of safeguarding human and public security in the context of migration. The overall purpose of the API is to contribute to an analysis of the migration-security nexus, to further stimulate policy and strategic discussions and to propose policy recommendations for strengthened migration governance. More information on API can be found here.