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Rehabilitation and Reintegration Critical to Global Efforts to Prevent Violent Extremism

Rehabilitation and Reintegration Critical to Global Efforts to Prevent Violent Extremism

Rehabilitation and Reintegration Critical to Global Efforts to Prevent Violent Extremism

Rehabilitation and Reintegration Critical to Global Efforts to Prevent Violent Extremism

Tirana, Albania, 15 June 2022 – Rehabilitation and reintegration is critical to international efforts to prevent violent extremism, panellists at a global conference on violent extremism will say today.

The high-level conference, co-organised by the Government of Albania, the European Union and the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), will focus on the need to rehabilitate and reintegrate returnees from conflicts abroad, including their families.

The Chair of the GCERF Governing Board, Mr Stefano Manservisi, said governments must learn from the experiences of countries engaging in the complex process of reintegrating citizens from warzones in Syria and Iraq.

“The successful rehabilitation and reintegration of returnees from conflicts abroad must balance national security against the wellbeing of individuals who have spent long periods away. Critical to this is how well local communities are sensitised to their return,” he said.

Albania has repatriated four caseloads of women and children from Syria and Iraq, the most recent arriving in May. Albania’s whole-of-government approach requires security agencies to work closely with education, health and social service providers.

The Minister of Interior of the Republic of Albania, H.E. Mr Bledi Çuçi, highlighted the importance of international cooperation in preventing radicalisation.

“Our joint efforts in countering radicalisation and violent extremism, phenomena that neither recognise nor respect borders, are vital for us to be able to respond in unison to a security threat that affects us all,” Mr Çuçi said.

The European Union welcomed GCERF’s work on preventing violent extremism in the region.

“The EU has always been a strong supporter of GCERF and we welcome GCERF’s work in the Western Balkans region and beyond on the issue of returning foreign terrorist fighters and their family members, their effective rehabilitation and reintegration and on preventing violent extremism in general,” Mr Maciej Popowski, Acting Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations said.

The conference will discuss the challenges, opportunities and solutions for effective rehabilitation and reintegration in the Western Balkans, Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia.

Media Contact
Yuko Narushima, Communications Specialist, GCERF, Geneva, Switzerland

+41 (0)79 570 40 56 or y.narushima@gcerf.org

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