Features: Municipalities at forefront in Dutch fight against radicalization

To combat the threat of home-grown radicalism, Dutch cities take a lead in implementing multifaceted strategies involving front line local experts, community organizations and social workers.

They are believed to be the best positioned to identify risks and craft solutions. But assessing the outcome is difficult, experts say.

In the Amsterdam district of New West, a "disadvantaged" heavy immigrant suburban area of about 130,000 inhabitants, fieldworker Mourad Ezzoubaa has come in contact with more than 200 youngsters.

About 10 percent, according to him, "can go either way from crime to religious radicalism".

Ezzoubaa attributed these youngster's vulnerability mainly to feelings of being alienated from society because of school drop out, unemployment and/or discrimination.

"A delicate background is the biggest risk factor for radicalization," he said. "But if this is tackled early, the probability of becoming a reality is small."

Member of Streetcornerwork, an organization cooperating closely with Dutch municipalities, Ezzoubaa works with around 250 field workers to support young people with problems ranging from financial or psychological difficulties to drug addiction and radicalization.

"We approach individuals but also groups of young people who face severe problems," explained Bernadette van den Oudenrijn, manager of the Youth and De-radicalization program at Streetcornerwork.

"If we are in contact with them, we can give guidance and support," van den Oudenrijn said.

Engaging at first in small talk, field workers come closer with young individuals, then discussion might expand to personal difficulties and obstacles. Religion and culture are less important topics, according to Ezzoubaa.

These field workers' role is highly appreciated by the municipality.

"By noticing signals of radicalization at an early stage, we attempt to provide solutions by different interventions.

"To address signals of radicalization in time, the municipality has built a network of professionals supplemented with key figures," said Jasper Karman, spokesman of the municipality of Amsterdam, which is considered as having the most extensive approach against radicalization among Dutch cities.

"Key figures" play a key role in influencing radicalizing individuals, Karman explained.

The term refers to Amsterdam young adults mainly Muslims who are close to diverse communities. Street coaches, social workers, sport trainers, teachers, counsellors and community activists working in the neighborhood, youth centers or clubs, they have connection with local communities and hard-to-reach groups.

"With adequate training to spot signs of radicalization, they provide the municipality with bottom-up knowledge and assist in reaching groups at risk of radicalization and polarization," said Karman.

Together with the police, specialized organisations and social care, actions such as improving access to the job market or improving living and health conditions are also undertaken to diminish reasons conducive to radicalization.

"The role of local actors and city council is crucial. They are in a position to detect radicalization early on and can signal this to national authorities," said Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) Dick Schoof, who oversees the government's action program to combat and weaken the jihadist movement in the Netherlands.

The jihadist movement in the Netherlands consists of a few hundred actual members and a few thousand sympathizers, according to reports by NCTV.

Around 270 Dutch jihadists have traveled to Syria and Iraq. Some of them, 44, have been killed and around 40 have returned, NCTV most recent data stated.

Since the start of 2016, fewer people have been departing each month, while around 190 Dutch jihadists remain in Syria and Iraq.

The majority of Dutch "foreign fighters" is under 25 years old, having ethnically Dutch and immigrant backgrounds.

There is a notable cluster of Dutch foreign fighters stemming from The Hague, according to NCTV. Other such towns include Delft, well known for its technical university, the nearby Zoetermeer, Gouda and Arnhem.

"We strongly believe in a targeted, multidisciplinary approach with active involvement of all relevant partners," Schoof said.

For example, community police is also playing an active role in preventing radicalization.

"Police officers engage with communities and build relationships of trust. They are the eyes and ears in the neighborhoods.

"Sometimes early signs of radicalization can be mitigated by a single or short-term intervention, such as interaction with a mentor or youth worker," Schoof told Xinhua.

"In cases of radicalized individuals, a thorough and sustained approach is needed. Terrorist attackers have almost always gone through a process of radicalization before they commit an act of violence" he said.

Streetcornerwork field workers also meet radicalized individuals, whom they call "the hardcore ones".

In Amsterdam, currently there are approximately 50 such cases, according to the municipality.

When a hardcore one is identified, local government steps in directly to jointly implement targeted interventions aimed at preventing further radicalization.

Radicalized individuals are appointed a "director" who draws a plan together with all partners involved either from a justice organization, such as the police, the district attorney and child protection or from care organizations, explained Karman.

Similar "individualized and customized" approaches are adopted nationwide.

"Our tailored approach contains a combination of support, administrative and criminal measures," said Lennart de Jong, spokesman of the municipality of Rotterdam, the second biggest city in the Netherlands with a large immigrant population.

As he explained to respond to the complexity of the cases and the rise in the number of partners involved per case, including the Public Prosecutor, Rotterdam has set up special radicalization-related case meetings at the Security House Rotterdam-Rijnmond (VHRR).

"In this context, for cases involving radicalization, we can utilize the VHRR's registration system, properly exchange information between the relevant partners in the chain, benefit from the VHRR's expertise and capacity and also discuss regional cases," said de Jong.

Apart from working directly with radicalized or vulnerable to radicalization individuals, Dutch municipalities implement broader initiatives aimed at reducing tensions within society, enabling positive contacts among groups and encourage discussions on sensitive issues and to strengthen the resilience to radical influences.

"Within our complementary education approach, for example, schools can apply for support, advice and training on how to deal with radicalization in their classrooms. They are linked with social partners and the local government," Schoof said.

Over the past two years, more than 50 schools have been advised and approximately 900 teaching staff has been trained.

For similar reasons, the Dutch government facilitated the establishment of a Family Support Center, aiming at positively influencing families "to stop radicalization processes, prevent violence, prevent terrorist travel or provide a motivation for return, and prevent or halt negative influence on siblings", Schoof explained.

In the Hague, such a program has been developed that aims to raise awareness among mothers of their role in preventing radicalization and offering them strategies.

Despite comprehensive efforts and multidisciplinary approaches, it is unclear how effective the Netherlands has been in fighting against radicalization.

The Dutch capital has put in place a system of regular evaluation of progress achieved, but "measuring the outcome on a case level or on the preventive level is very difficult," Karman acknowledged.

"Deradicalization is difficult to measure," agreed de Jong from Rotterdam. "Disengagement is much more common among Jihadists in the Netherlands than de-radicalization."

"In other words, in most cases, radical behavior ceases, but the individual continues to, partly, hold on to Jihadist ideology," de Jong said.

"The limited understanding of radicalization processes has so far led to ineffective and even detrimental policies," said researcher at the Hague Institute of Global Justice Agnese Macaluso, whose research work includes issues related to education in conflict areas, urban violence and local governance.

"The number of radicalization cases has increased recently," said Karman, attributing this development partly to the increase and broadening of the problem, but also to the situation in the Middle East.

Rotterdam has also seen an increase in reports, but according to the city's spokesman "there is no correlation between these reports and actual cases of radicalization".

"Nevertheless, the nature of the received reports has become more complex. Although we have seen few social tensions crop up in Rotterdam, we still consider it necessary to pay close attention to this development in order to prevent international conflicts from affecting us here," de Jong said. Endit