BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

STUDIES should be done to understand reasons that cause individuals to get radicalised and join extremist groups, the Minister of Home Affairs told the East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration in Singapore.

In his working paper at the symposium, Yang Berhormat Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Hj Awg Badaruddin Pengarah Dato Paduka Hj Awg Othman said specific issues involving religious extremism must be seriously reviewed and appropriate action taken.

“It should begin by knowing and understanding the reasons that cause an individual to think radically, what motivated them to join extremist groups that threaten national security and public order,” he was quoted as saying in press statement issued by the ministry yesterday.

YB Pehin Dato Ustaz Hj Awg Badaruddin also discussed strategies to combat and overcome radical understanding and religious extremists, the statement added without elaborating on the strategies.

The minister was among the panelists on the topic “Innovative Strategies to Reintegration” at the two-day symposium organised by Nanyang Technological University’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies on April 16.

He also highlighted the role of religion in the rehabilitation of inmates in his working paper, the statement read.

The symposium was held at The Ritz-Carlton-Millenia Singapore Hotel on April 16, and was closed by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Religious Rehabilitation Group Centre.

Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Coordinating Minister cum Foreign Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean opened the seminar.

The event was also attended by experts and practitioners in the field of religious extremists rehabilitation, radical understanding and terrorism from the academic, public and private sectors from over 30 countries within and outside East Asia.

It provided a platform to share best practices as well as boost skills and efforts in preserving religion and social integration.

With the rise of ISIS, the symposium rendered it more urgent that governments and law enforcement agencies mitigate the threat of terrorism and extremism, and its resulting impact on society. It also covered global aftercare programmes and social reintegration of terrorist detainees.

Also present at the symposium was Permanent Secretary for Security and Enforcement at the Prime Minister’s Office Dato Paduka Hj Hamdan Hj Abu Bakar.

The Brunei Times