The British Approach to Islamists Deradicalisation: Success or Failure?

Abstract

The article is devoted to deradicalization programmes in the UK. Their active development began after the terrorist attack in London in 2005. The article discusses the most notable deradicalization programmes: Prevent and Channel, aimed at those at risk of radicalization, as well as DDP and HII programmes developed for radical Islamists who are in prison or have been released on parole. The author also examines the question of how efficient these programmes have proved to be. The government announced obvious achievements in deradicalization, indicating that, due to the above programmes, more than 1,000 Britons have denounced their radical ideas. However, some representatives of the academic and Muslim communities have criticized the programmes pointing out that they do not have a serious ideological foundation, which leads to the stigmatization of the Muslim population in general and Muslim youth in particular. Inefficient spending of funds was also criticized. After the graduates of one of the programmes, who allegedly were successfully deradicalized, had committed terrorist attacks (Usman Khan in 2019, Sadesh Uman in 2020), the government began to tighten laws and revise the deradicalization programmes. However, an essential improvement of the programmes requires taking into account the full range of reasons for the growing popularity of radical ideas, including social, political and international ones. In particular, current deradicalization programmes are based on the assumption that radical Islam is an irrational evil, but do not take into account the fact that the radicalization of Muslim youth may be a reaction to the stigmatization they face in the British society, as well as to the UK's policy in the Middle East.