Rehabilitation, reintegration crucial to terror fight: PM Lee

SINGAPORE — Security action is needed to tackle the threat of jihadi terrorism, but this alone will not root out extremism — the religious and social dimensions must also be addressed in the war against 
terror, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. 

Not only must apprehended terrorists be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society, there is also a need to guide Muslim communities and prevent perverted and dangerous ideas from catching on, as well as build a multi-religious society that is harmonious and integrated, said Mr Lee. 

And making progress in this fight is also contingent on the support of the Muslim community and leaders. “One important reason we have been able to achieve peace and harmony here is because our Muslim community and Muslim leaders have supported us. This is an absolute requirement if we are to make any headway in the fight against jihadi terrorism,” said Mr Lee who was speaking at the closing dinner of the East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration at Khadijah Mosque today (April 17). 

Mr Lee said the rehabilitation of terrorists who have been caught is necessary, so that they “understand the error of their ways” and do not fall prey to “a warped version of Islam”. Former extremists must also be reintegrated into society and not left ostracised and therefore vulnerable. 

In the long term, these social and religious dimensions must be addressed, so that we avoid problems of marginalisation, religious enclaves, misperceptions and resentment, which can feed religious extremism and terrorism, he said. 

Calling Singapore’s racial and religious harmony “a precious state of affairs”, Mr Lee, addressing some 100 delegates, speakers and local religious leaders who attended the symposium, said the Republic has been sensitive about race and religion for a long time. “We are a multi-racial society, we have experienced racial tensions, religious riots in the past...In any multi-racial and multi-religious nation, race and religion are natural fault lines,” he said. 

The harmony in Singapore is the result of a sustained effort to build trust between ethnic and religious groups, while fostering give and take and creating strong links between the groups, he said. 

For example, Singapore requires public housing estates to be ethnically integrated with a certain minimum proportion of Chinese, Indians, Malays in every Housing and Development Board block. “Thus we do not have ghettos, banlieus which are mono-racial, communities living separate from another, generating a sense of siege and neglect, of us against them. We all live together and work together,” Mr Lee said. 

While the support of the Muslim community and Muslim leaders is important in the fight against jihadi terrorism, Mr Lee acknowledged this was not easy to achieve. 

“It depends on trust having been already been established and where the trust is not yet strong enough, it’s hard to get into a virtuous circle and to start building it, especially when under stress,” he said. 

Referring to the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG), Mr Lee noted how the Islamic teachers put their reputations on the line to work with the Government after the Jemaah Islamiyah terror plot was uncovered in 2001, and risked appearing like they were going the Government’s bidding. 

But they persevered and have done “good work” — since 2002, 57 extremists have been rehabilitated and released from detention, and there was only one case of recidivism among them, said Mr Lee, who also commended efforts by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, the Aftercare Group — a network of Malay or Muslim organisations — the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association, and Mufti Mohamed Fatris Bakaram.

He also noted that extremists have become skilful in using the Internet and social media to put out their “poisonous propaganda”. “On the side of the good people, we also have to be as skillful and efficient in using the social media (and) the Internet to counter the lies, to make sure that the truth prevails,” said Mr Lee.