The Malaysian Insight

CRITICS of Putrajaya’s rehabilitation and reintegration (RnR) of militants are wrong to say the programme was flawed. 

Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the government measures its success by the actual number of terrorist-related incidents in Malaysia.  

The low number of actual terrorist-related incidents showed the government’s preventive enforcement and corrective measures have been successful, he said in response to criticism by think-tank Iman Research.

“Only the Movida attack in Puchong has been classified as terrorist related,” he told The Malaysian Insight, referring to the 2016 incident where two terrorists hurled a grenade at the Movida nightclub in Puchong, Selangor, injuring eight patrons. 

“It must be emphasised the number of potential terrorist suspects is still small, measured by the inmates in detention.

“It is not possible to reprogramme every detainee but the purpose is to deradicalise them from extremism that can lead to violence,” he told The Malaysian Insight, adding the government’s focus was on prevention of extremism, which includes terrorism.

Iman Research programme director Badrul Hisham Ismail had said their research found a majority of “rehabilitated” extremists still held on to their original beliefs and continued giving financial support to violent groups. 

He named three Malaysia’s notorious militants, Yazid Sufaat, Mohd Lotfi Ariffin and Rafi Udin, as examples of how the programme was flawed. 

Lotfi and Rafi are two of the scores of extremists whom the think-tank believes either rejoined militant groups or continue to believe in militancy despite completing the government’s programme.

Nur Jazlan, however, said most of the people detained did not have strong beliefs in religion and can be deradicalised easier. 

The deputy minister said the examples of three people did not mean the programme was flawed.

“The fact is we have only detained a few hundred suspects which is miniscule compared to the population. 

“I don’t know where Iman got their facts on the high number of Malaysians involved in terrorism from,” he said. 

He added the government reviewed the de-radicalisation programme over time to improve its effectiveness. 

“More than 95% of inmates follow through the programme until the end. Then they are monitored even after release.

“The deradicalisation process is a lifelong process,” he said.

According to Iman Research, another reason the programme was flawed was because it was top-down and only looked at the religious aspect of extremism.

To this, Nur Jazlan explained the initial programme had to be top-down to ensure the inmates submitted to it.

“And since almost all the inmates are Muslims, a religious module to instil awareness of the true, non-violent teachings of Islam, must be administered. 

“After they have been deradicalised and vetted by our experts, the government begins the process of reintegrating them into society.

“This will involve other soft factors like the family and the community and employers,” he said. 

Iman Research, however, contrasted Malaysia’s approach with that of Indonesia’s, which conducted a variety of rehab programmes run by the government, civil society groups and the local community. 

This was done to be more comprehensive in addressing the variety of factors that cause a person to be radicalised, taking it account the person’s feelings of dissatisfaction with life, weak ties with family members, poverty and ideology. – February 8, 2018.