Prisons
in Europe are becoming “breeding grounds” for jihadist groups, with
some criminals seeing violent extremism as a form of redemption for
their crimes, a report by a British think tank published Tuesday said.
Jihadist and criminal groups are
recruiting from the same pool of people, while their social networks are
also converging, the International Centre for the Study of
Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) found, in what it dubbed a
“new crime-terror nexus”.
The emergence of the Islamic State group
(IS) has strengthened the link between crime and terrorism, according
to the report which examined the profiles of European jihadists
recruited since 2011.Rather than looking to universities or religious
establishments, IS increasingly turns to “ghettos”, prisons and
“underclasses” to recruit individuals with a history of criminal
behaviour, it said.
Prisons provide a ready supply of “angry
young men” who are “ripe” for radicalisation, according to the study,
entitled “Criminal Pasts, Terrorist Futures: European Jihadists and the
New Crime-Terror Nexus”.
ICSR director Peter Neumann, one of the
report’s authors, said the lines between crime and jihadist groups were
becoming “increasingly blurred”.
“Prison is becoming important as a place where a lot of networking happens,” he said.
“Given the recent surge in
terrorism-related arrests and convictions… we are convinced that prisons
will become more –- rather than less –- significant as breeding grounds
for the jihadist movement.”
Read More:
Europe’s prisons ‘breeding ground’ for jihadists
Post a Comment