Counter violent extremism programs lacking in Australia, say Islamic leaders

By Nino Bucci
Updated April 20 2015 - 9:08am, first published April 19 2015 - 6:43pm

Young Muslim men in Melbourne's south-east remain deeply distrustful of authorities and angry about the shooting death of Numan Haider, but have no access to programs that counter extremism, according to an Islamic leader. 
The arrest of five men, aged 18 and 19, on Saturday, came when police uncovered an alleged plot to commit atrocities on Anzac Day. 
But Kuranda Seyit, the secretary of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said the raids would drive another wedge between police and young Muslim men, especially those who had known Haider. 
He said it would have helped police build trust within the community if they had tried to counsel the young men, rather than arrest them.
"They were obviously watching these guys, so they could have pulled them [aside] and said we want to talk to you about this and have a bit of a chat, rather than breaking doors down and potentially causing harm to people," Mr Seyit said. 
"There was a lot of animosity and tension, particularly after the killing of Numan Haider [shot by police last year] ... and a lot of anger and innuendo that police could have done more to stop the situation.
"His close friends and family members may never forgive the police."
Mr Seyit, a teacher at an Islamic school who was familiar with the men arrested but did not know them personally, said it was vital that police continued to crack down on those who had succumbed to the extremism promoted by Islamic State. 
He said there were few options for the community if they suspected a family member may be at risk of extremism and needed help to deal with the issue. 
It could also be difficult to distinguish young men who may be full of bravado and naivety with those who are actually willing to travel overseas to fight with Islamic State or commit terrorism in Australia. 
"There's a lot of young men, particularly since Numan Haider, and they just talk and talk about killing police and bringing down the government."
Australian Federal Police acting deputy commissioner Neil Gaughan said on Saturday that everybody should be concerned by the young age of the men. 
"This is an issue not just for law enforcement but the broader community. We need to get better in relation to identifying [these] young men and women ... and we need invention strategies to ensure they don't go down this path."
Australia is behind Europe when it comes to implementing successful programs that counter violent extremism programs, according to a paper published by the Lowy Institute last week. 
Andrew Zammit, a researcher at Monash University's Global Terrorism Research Centre, found that programs that are not run by security agencies appeared to have had the most success. 
He wrote that the Abbott Government had committed to three main countering violent extremism (CVE) programs: a $13.4 million effort to assess at-risk individuals and refer them to support services that can help them reject violent extremism, a $21.7 million online program and tailoring Department of Social Services social-cohesion programs to support CVE. 
The programs were announced last August as part of a $630 million counter-terrorism package, after previous programs were stripped of funding in 2013. 
But the first round of grants for the program that Mr Zammit believed was most targeted at potential foreign fighters, the $13.4 million Living Safe Together program, was only allocated last month. 
"Questions remain as to how any new CVE approach will be implemented by the government," Mr Zammit wrote. 
"And the government's troubled relations with Australia's Muslim communities mean that its efforts to counter violent extremism are not off to the strongest of starts."

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