Violence and Security

After Brussels Attacks, Poland Shifts Refugee Policy

March 31, 2016

Following multiple suicide bombings in Brussels, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło has announced that, without proper verification procedures in place, her government will not accept any of the 7,000 asylum seekers her predecessors agreed to resettle in 2015.
Brussels Neighborhood Demonstrates Problems of Radicalization, Terror

March 30, 2016

Author Matthew Levitt writes on the seemingly intractable problems of predominantly Muslim neighborhoods in cities in Western Europe, such as Molenbeek in Brussels, where the short reach of intelligence and law enforcement officials has permitted the Islamic State ("IS") to cultivate and direct networks of radical Islamist fighters.
UN Agency Seeks Resettlement of 1 in 10 Syrian Refugees

March 30, 2016

In advance of a conference in Geneva seeking to jump-start the resettlement of Syrian refugees around the world, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has called on governments to help resettle 1 in 10 of these refugees and to develop programs to host them for multiple years.
UNHCR Praises Canada on Refugee Resettlement

March 30, 2016

On a recent visit to Canada, UN High Commissioner for Refugees ("UNHCR") Filippo Grandi lauded Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees and plans to resettle 45,000 in 2016, calling on other governments to follow Trudeau's example in their own refugee resettlement programs.
UN Meeting Seeks Education Solution to "Violent Extremism"

March 30, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") recently convened a consultation meeting of experts to attempt to produce a guide for policymakers on how to counter "violent extremism" through education.
Brussels Suburb Pursues Islamist "Deradicalization"

March 30, 2016

The Economist reports that the efforts of the Brussels suburb Vilvoorde may offer a glimpse of how communities, through social programs targeting radicalized Muslims and police monitoring, might succeed in persuading such individuals to join, or rejoin, Western society.
Alexiev: Europe Must Expose Homegrown Radical Islamism

March 30, 2016

Alex Alexiev of the Center for Balkan and Black Sea Studies writes that, in the wake of the recent suicide bombings in Brussels, Europeans must recognize the threat to Western society posed by radical Islamist groups and individuals who live in European cities and believe in the supremacy of sharia law.
Security Officials Warn of IS-Trained Terrorist Cells in Europe

March 29, 2016

AP reports that European and Iraqi intelligence officials are warning that the Islamic State ("IS") has trained at least 400 fighters forming a network of "interlocking terror cells" whose goal is to cause "maximum chaos" through strikes in Europe.
Eyal Predicts Prompt Failure of EU-Turkey Deal

March 29, 2016

Author and journalist Jonathan Eyal writes that, due to constraints on the Greek courts and administrative system, as well as EU rules restricting the deportation of asylum seekers to countries with lower refugee standards, the deal between EU leaders and Turkey on the return of migrants from Greece to Turkey will likely fail before it is implemented.
Murray: US, Europe Have Not Fully Realized Islamist Threat

March 28, 2016

In the wake of the Brussels bombings, author Douglas Murray writes that Europeans and Americans have not yet realized the full extent of the threat of radical Islamists to their homelands and that only an attack on a far larger scale than those of 9/11 will "crack" the "illusions" these societies hold regarding how to effectively combat terrorism.