Young people, security and extremism in North Bengal
13 July 2012The findings of a new youth perceptions survey on safety and security in North Bengal highlight that extremist ideologies have little support in surveyed communities. However, the existence of extremist groups is seen as a potential catalyst for instability and violent conflict in Bangladesh.
Over the past decade, concerns have grown that unemployed young people in the impoverished North Bengal region of Bangladesh are an easy target for recruitment by extremist groups. Saferworld supported the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) to explore this issue through a youth perception survey on safety and security in the region, focusing in particular on concerns around violent extremism.
Safety and security in North Bengal, Bangladesh presents an analysis of primary and secondary research conducted between November 2010 and April 2011 by BEI with support from Saferworld. BEI surveyed over 600 men and women aged 18–35. The report sets out their views on a range of safety and security issues including fear and experience of crime, reporting violent incidents and contact with religious extremist groups.
While only 7.5 percent of those surveyed considered that extremist ideologies have much support in their communities, nonetheless, a majority of people (59 percent) did feel that the existence of extremist groups had the potential to fuel instability leading to violent conflict in Bangladesh. A positive finding was that many of the young people surveyed expressed a desire to be consulted and play an active role in improving safety and security in their communities.
The report makes a series of recommendations on how policy makers, security sector providers and other key stakeholders can achieve this, including through promoting community security initiatives as a preventative mechanism; developing an education reform programme to address the weaknesses in the madrassa and mainstream systems, and creating employment opportunities and platforms to engage young people.
