ASEAN Сonsumed by Islamic State?
Malaysia charges six suspected Islamic
State militants, 30 April 2015
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The war against IS has turned into a global affair, not only because the international community is concerned about increasing political and military tensions in the Middle East, but also, and primarily, because the terrorist organization poses a very real threat to the national security of countries all over the world. It is these considerations that prompted Southeast Asian countries to hold a special ministerial meeting under the aegis of the ASEAN on the growth of radicalism and violent extremism.
The war against IS has turned into a global affair, not only because the international community is concerned about increasing political and military tensions in the Middle East, but also, and primarily, because the terrorist organization poses a very real threat to the national security of countries all over the world. It is these considerations that prompted Southeast Asian countries to hold a special ministerial meeting under the aegis of the ASEAN on the growth of radicalism and violent extremism.
While this is not a new problem for the region (religious confrontations between Muslims and Christians, and between Buddhists and Muslims, flare up from time to time in various Southeast Asian countries; radical Islamists have carried out terrorist attacks in Indonesia and the Philippines, and separatists are active in the South of Thailand), the emergence of IS has prompted talk about the need to prevent extremism and Islamic radicalism through coordinated international efforts.
The threat posed by IS for the ASEAN countries is measured not in terms of the number of citizens fighting for the organization – the number is not especially large, around 400–800 of the total 30,000 foreigners among its ranks. Rather, the main danger lies elsewhere, in its growing influence in the region, which is home to 15 per cent of the world’s Muslim population. And radical Islamic thought is spreading. The danger is all the more evident as it has the framework for growth: it has an organizational base of jihadist terrorists who are ready to pledge their allegiance to the caliphate (around 30 terrorists groups have done just this), as well as a social base numbering several thousand people (some 3000 Indonesians have declared their loyalty to IS fighters online) that could expand should its supporters be called up upon returning to their homelands.
The main danger lies elsewhere, in its growing influence in the region, which is home to per cent of the world’s Muslim population.
They have received military training, lifted their fighting spirits and developed international contacts. This has enabled them to strengthen the extremist underground and successfully carry out terrorist attacks aimed at overthrowing existing regimes and setting up a caliphate under the name of Daulah Islamiyah Nusantara in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand and the Philippines, where enclaves of terrorist activity among its supporters already exist.
Chairman of the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) nations and host Malaysian
Prime Minister Najib Razak, delivers his speech
warning against terrorism, 27 April 2015
The ASEAN countries are particularly concerned about the activities of IS militants returning to their homelands, all the more so as there is already compelling evidence to suggest that they are involved in planning terrorist attacks in the region. So far, the security forces have been able to prevent these attacks from taking place. But it is impossible to calculate all the possible scenarios for the next five to ten years – the experience of the jihadist fighters returning from Afghanistan is proof of this. The Bali bombings were just one of the consequences of the region’s Islamists getting involved in global terrorism. And IS’s supporters are even more radical than their predecessors.
Meanwhile, IS is measured in its actions to strengthen its influence in the region and recruit new fighters. A number of methods are used to achieve the latter – holding sermons in mosques, brainwashing children in madrassas and non-secular boarding schools (financed by radical Islamic organizations), distributing jihadist religious literature, setting up local radical groups and using social networks. There are currently 10,000 extremist websites operating out of Southeast Asia.
This has enabled them to strengthen the extremist underground and successfully carry out terrorist attacks aimed at overthrowing existing regimes and setting up a caliphate under the name of Daulah Islamiyah Nusantara in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand and the Philippines, where enclaves of terrorist activity among its supporters already exist.
The fight against radical Islamists in Southeast Asia is being conducted in a number of areas. In addition to counter-terrorist activities (this year alone, 92 people have been detained in Malaysia on suspicion of having links with IS), a stricter visa regime is to be implemented. Monitoring of prisons (where convicted terrorists can record and send video messages without much trouble) and mosques (which are used to prepare future terrorists) is also improving. A counter-propaganda campaign is in full swing in the media, which aims to reject and refute the teachings of radical jihadists. The government is working closely with Muslim organizations that condemn the actions of IS to actively educate the general population on the antagonistic nature of the IS’s message and focus people’s attention instead on traditional Islamic values. The authorities are counting on the help and cooperation of these Muslim organizations to deprive IS’s followers of their support in local communities.
The ministers of ASEAN countries stated at their meeting that special importance would be given to preventative counter-terrorist measures, including a rehabilitation programme for militants successfully approbated in Malaysia which, according to a joint decision made by Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, should serve as the basis for planning and carrying out counter-terrorist operations in the region. Accordingly, an ASEAN +8 Conference on De-Radicalization has been planned for January 2016.
It is still too early to make any predictions about the effectiveness of the policy to de-radicalize Southeast Asian countries. They simply do not have the expertise, the personnel or the legal framework to counter the very real and dangerous threat of IS’s influence, and thus Islamic extremism, spreading throughout the region. This is why the question of expanding cooperation between Southeast Asian countries – coordinating actions and exchanging experience, views and ideas on stamping out terrorism and violence in the region – has become more important than ever.
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