Colombo: Sri Lanka has sought expertise in preventing violent extremism (PVE) from the Global Community Engagement & Resilience Fund (GCERF) in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks, the foreign affairs ministry said. The GCERF is a Geneva-based public-private partnership that supports local, community-level initiatives aimed at strengthening resilience against violent extremism. At the invitation of the foreign ministry, the executive director of GCERF Khalid Koser was in Sri Lanka from 27 – 30 August, and met with political leaders, senior officials and other stakeholders with a view to ascertain possible programmes for GCERF assistance.
During his meeting with Koser, foreign minister Tilak Marapana pointed out that addressing this issue in Sri Lanka must be done in the context where the majority Lankan Muslim community has collaborated with the government in apprehending the culprits connected to the dastardly attacks on Easter Sunday. The minister further highlighted the value of community policing where extreme elements must be identified and dealt with at the early stages of radicalisation. He said that ordinary Sri Lankan populace is not extremist, but those vulnerable elements can be manipulated by interested parties in attempts to flare up situations for ulterior motives. The Minister also raised the dilemma of dealing with individuals who return from conflict areas, which is an issue faced by many countries.
Koser underlined that national ownership, effective coordination and the local context for any PVE programme is central to GCERF assistance. He briefed about GCERF engagement in comparable situations in Bangladesh, Tunisia, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya, the Philippines and Myanmar. Koser also called on Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, where the latter briefed about his work in vulnerable hots pots through parliamentarians. Chairperson of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga briefed about the work conducted by ONUR at the grassroots level with different communities on peaceful coexistence and social harmony.
At an interactive dialogue with relevant government stakeholders at the Defence Ministry co-chaired by Defence Secretary Shantha Kottegoda and Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha, the Defence Secretary noted that the security forces and police were able to bring the situation swiftly under control after 21/4 and arrest suspects who could have carried out a second wave of attacks.
Now it was time to address those in detention to prevent further radicalisation and put in place an effective de-radicalisation programme. Kottegoda underlined the difference between LTTE rehabilitation which was a success and the nature of the issues involved in dealing with religious extremism which require a completely different set of tools and programme of action.
