ZALYSIN I.Yu. Migration as a Factor in the Rise of Terrorism of Religious Extremists
DOI 10.35775/PSI.2019.32.2.004
I.Yu. ZALYSIN Doctor of Sciences (political sciences), Head of the Chair of political sciences,Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (MSHA), Moscow, Russia
MIGRATION AS A FACTOR IN THE RISE OF TERRORISM OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS
The article is devoted to the analysis of the causes of modern religious terrorism. In particular, it reveals the influence of migration to the Western countries on the intensification of the Islamists’ terrorist activities. It also shows dangerous consequences of immigrants' disadaptation to life in the new social environment. The author reviews difficulties in the implementation of the policy of “multiculturalism.” He demonstrates the urgency of neutralization of destructive aspects of population migration for our country.
Key words: terrorism, causes of terrorism, terrorist activities of Islamic extremists, migration of population, adaptation and disadaptation of immigrants, multiculturalism, fight against terrorism.
Our time is marked by the emergence of a variety of global threats, among which terrorism occupies a special place. It is associated with numerous victims and destruction, aggravation of international and domestic political conflicts, weakening of the world order.
Religious extremists pose the greatest danger among other forms of terrorism. Terrorists come out of the ranks of religious fanatics of various denominations, but it should be recognized that the Islamists are leading in the number and scale of terrorist acts, both in the world as a whole and in Russia. Out of the twenty four terrorist organizations banned in the territory of the Russian Federation twenty have an Islamic orientation [1. P. 60].
Modern Islamist terrorism is caused by various factors. In our view, its growth is largely due to the unprecedented uncontrolled migration to the developed countries of Asians and Africans, many of whom are Muslim believers.
As a result of the mass migration to the West European countries of immigrants who profess Islam and the high birth rate among them, the size of the Muslim community in the region has increased dramatically. Thus, in accordance with the official data, it constitutes in France 6% of the population (unofficially – from 13 to15percent), in Germany – about 5%, in the UK – 4.5%. Even more serious changes in the demographic situation of the EU countries may occur due to the rapid influx of refugees from Syria. For example, in Germany, from 2014 to 2016, it has more than doubled. According to some forecasts, if the current trends continue, by 2050, Muslims will make up more than 10% of the EU population.
The immigration wave has not bypassed our country. According to the UN statistics, the Russian Federation is among the three leading countries in the number of international migrants. The following number of migrants have entered the country from abroad: in 2011 – 13 831 860 persons, in 2012 – 15 889 421, in 2013 – 17 785 910, in 2014 – 17 281 971, in 2015 – 17 333 777, in 2016 – 16 290 031, and in 2017 – about 12 000 000 [8. P. 22]. It should be emphasized that Muslims constituted the majority among them.
The influx of immigrants creates serious problems, social contradictions and conflicts. The resettlement of immigrants from the Islamic world to Western countries leads to the fact that Muslims see inequality in the situation of rich and poor countries not only on TV or the Internet, but also personally. As we have already noted, immigrants make up a fairly high percentage of the population in the European countries, but the majority of them are at the bottom socially. This causes their indignation and rejection and they become potential recruits of terrorist organizations.
As history shows, the most terratogenic are regions and countries where there is a close contact between representatives of different values and cultures. Muslim immigrants find it all the more difficult to adapt to life in European countries because they find themselves in a fundamentally different socio-cultural environment [3]. There is no doubt that this complicates the relationship between them and the indigenous people.
Staying in an alien socio-cultural environment strengthens the commitment of visitors to their traditions, rituals and religious values, which become a means of their self-defense. However, this, on the contrary, leads to their isolation and increased hostility in relations with the indigenous population [9]. The extreme expression of this process is the increasing number of attacks on immigrants, which have even spread to such “calm” countries as New Zealand.
Unfortunately, the political and cultural elite of the European states have not yet managed to solve the problem of integration of immigrants from Muslim countries into Western society. The policy of “multiculturalism” is carried out in Europe to harmonize relations between different ethnic groups and confessions.
It implies the preservation and respect of cultural differences in a single country or in the world as a whole, the parallel existence of cultures with a view to their mutual enrichment and development. At the same time, all ethnic and religious groups should recognize certain unifying values: compliance with the law, respect for the rights of the individual, etc.
However, the policy of “multiculturalism” has not yet proved its high efficiency. Moreover, some authors believe that it was a complete failure [2. P. 20]. It is particularly difficult to integrate those ethno-religious groups that do not recognize liberal values, and therefore do not have tolerance for other cultures and religions. In October 2010, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called multiculturalism a “fiction”. Later, the policy of multiculturalism was criticized for its inefficiency by the then British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The difficulties in adapting immigrants to the realities of the Western society contribute to their isolation and consolidation within a kind of foreign culture “ghettos,” territories of compact residence of visitors, where life differs radically from the life of the indigenous population. Ethno-religious enclaves can become an extreme form of isolation of migrants in the host communities.
Trying to survive in an alien environment, many inhabitants of the “ghettos” see Islam as a means of self-affirmation and preservation of their identity. At the same time, they choose archaic and the most radical forms. T.S. Ryabinskaya notes: “In the process of globalization, the migration flows are growing, a significant part of them are refugees from war-torn regions. As a result, many young people, who experience a shortage of stabilizing forms of culture, turn only to ersatz of traditional cultures, often containing patterns of extremist orientation”. [7. P. 18]. The activities of terrorist organizations are aimed at compensating that sense of alienation by forming a political and religious identity based on belonging to the world Muslim Ummah and not to a national state [6. P. 107].
As we can see, the isolation of migrants is a breeding ground for crime and political extremism. This problem is becoming more and more urgent every year. In recent years, Western Europe has seen the emergence of a large number of "no-go zones" – areas closed not only to indigenous Europeans, but also to the law enforcement agencies. A suburb of Brussels, the infamous Molenbeek became one of such areas. Several terrorists who carried out attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015 lived in that suburb. Radical Islamists in the UK even tried to implement the project of “Islamic Emirates,” transforming Muslim communities in the country into independent Islamic quasi-states with parallel structures of state power.
Long-term stay of immigrants in socio-cultural isolation leads to a change in the social base of terrorism in Western Europe. Terrorists born and raised in the European countries are beginning to dominate here. While the generation of labour immigrants of the 1960s and 1970s was able to somehow adapt to the European way of life, the following waves of immigration are characterized by a low degree of socialization and naturalization and by a greater predisposition to extremism. They are alienated both from the Western society in which they were born and from the Muslim countries from which their parents and grandfathers have emigrated. Thus, Islamist terrorism has transformed from a foreign into a European phenomenon.
Along with ordinary immigrants we see in the West representatives of the radical Islamic opposition (from such organizations as Muslim Brotherhood, Jamaat-I-Islami, Hizbut-Tahrir al-Islami (1) and others), who are fleeing from persecution in their own countries. Some of them form the basis of terrorism due to their politicization and a tendency to extremist methods of political struggle.
Extremists use the opportunities of liberal democracy, participate in political activities, promote their ideas, creating parallel social institutions (religious, charitable, judicial), which become centers of political agitation and training of Islamist cadres [5]. A special role is played by mosques (the number of which in Western Europe is constantly growing) used by Islamists to spread extremist ideas.
It would be wrong to say that the majority of Muslims arriving in the European countries are hostile to their new homeland and are potential terrorists. For the most part, they are law-abiding citizens, using legal political opportunities to achieve constructive political goals.
However, it is impossible to deny that Islamic state (1) and other terrorist organizations enjoy some support among Muslims who immigrated to Western Europe. And many of them, as we have noted, are immigrants in the second or third generation, which indicates to the problems of integration of refugees in the European society.
Unfortunately, the adaptation of immigrants to Russian society does not always go smoothly. The Federal target program “Strengthening the Unity of the Russian Nation and Ethno-Cultural Development of the Peoples of Russia (2014-2020)”, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on 20.08.2013, notes the inadequacy of the measures implemented to ensure effective social and cultural integration and adaptation of migrants. It also critically assesses the level of interdepartmental and inter-level coordination in the implementation of the state national policy, including the prevention of extremism and early warning of ethnic conflicts.
In turn, the Strategy of Countering Extremism in the Russian Federation until 2025, approved by the President of the Russian Federation in November 2014, considers uncontrolled (including illegal) migration and insufficiently regulated migration processes as a significant factor that has a negative impact on public security. Therefore, it is imperative to implement a system of measures (economic, political, legal, ideological, etc.) for the socio-cultural adaptation and integration of migrants, involving efforts not only by the state but also by society.
NOTES:
(1) Organizatsiya, zapreshchennaya na territorii RF [Organization prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation] (In Russ.).
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