The social minister, Manu Sareen, and the justice minister, Karen Hækkerup, will today unveil the government’s new action plan concerning the prevention of radicalisation and extremism.
The action plan will strengthen preventative measures on all fronts and tighten legislation to stem the rising number of young people travelling to take part in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq on behalf of the Islamic State (IS).
“We must break the food chain to the extremist environments and do everything we can to get in early in order to prevent people becoming radicalised,” Sareen said in a press release.
“The consequences of extremist recruitment are massive. At the moment we see that young people are being killed in Syria or are returning deeply radicalised, presenting a security risk for our society.”
Among the many initiatives in the strategy is the confiscation of passports, travel bans or the suspension of residence permits for people going to fight in Syria, and a national hotline that provides parents with advice.
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No longer welcome
Additionally, a national exit-centre will be established for people looking to get out of extremist milieus, as well as a nationwide corps of mentors, who can be connected with persons who are at risk of being radicalised, and a mobilisation unit that can assist in difficult and emergency cases regarding radicalisation.
“We will strengthen preventative measures, but we will also crack down hard with stringent consequences for those who continue down the wrong path,” Hækkerup said in a press release.
“If they leave to take part in armed conflicts despite the warnings, then they are not welcome back in Denmark. We will strip them of their residence permits. And Danish citizens will be punished with prison time when they return home.”
