‘Moderate’ Bangladesh a difficult place for transnational terrorists to operate, says US ambassador

The US ambassador in Dhaka has lauded Bangladesh’s efforts to counter violent extremism, making it “harder” for transnational terrorists to operate on its soil.

But Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat at a conference in Hawaii said violent extremists were attempting to exploit Bangladesh’s “existing” societal tensions, and the vulnerability those tensions create.

“To its credit, however, Bangladesh is not gripped by extremism,” she said, speaking at the conference styled ‘Countering Violent Extremism in Bangladesh: Phase Zero’.

“When it comes to countering violent extremism, Bangladesh is at what the Department of Defence calls Phase Zero,” she said, but some recent trends suggest “vigilance must be maintained”.

She said weak rule of law, inequitable government services and distribution, and restricted space for dissent as some of the under-lying conditions susceptible to extremists’ messages.

While the government was using force to clamp down on militancy, she suggested, force must be coupled with efforts to address such underlying socio-political conditions, structures, and grievances that make individuals and communities vulnerable to radicalisation.

The US Special Operations Command for the Pacific area organised the conference on Monday in Honolulu.

The ambassador stressed how the US and “strategically important” Bangladesh could work together to counter extremist trends before they gained traction.

She highly applauded Bangladesh’s socio-economic progress including in health, food security, and poverty reduction.

“Not since 19th century Japan has the world seen a country make such significant strides in reducing child and maternal mortality in such a short period of time,” she said.

She termed Bangladesh a “key player” in South Asia’s regional connectivity, and “a leader” among developing countries on advocating for better environmental policies.

“Historically Bangladesh has identified itself as a tolerant country with strong democratic roots,” she said.

“Bangladesh is a moderate country and a valued security partner that offers a viable alternative to violent extremism in a troubled part of the world.”

She said though Bangladesh does not come to mind when someone thinks of violent extremism, but “that’s why our efforts n countries such as Bangladesh are so important”.

As a ‘Phase Zero’ country, she said, the opportunity still exists to thwart potential threats by dissuading would-be extremists in “a proactive rather than reactive way”.

“And let’s not kid ourselves –the threats are real,” she said.

She mentioned some recent events that pointed to the fact that “Bangladesh must maintain its vigil”.

Of them she mentioned, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s audio message in September last year when he stated the intent to establish a greater presence in Bangladesh, arrest of expatriate Bangladeshis for attempting to join Da’esh, and spread of banned extremist groups ideologies by social media.

Besides, she cited as examples a Bangladeshi caught in the US, trying to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, killing of bloggers and al-Qaeda’s claim to murder them.

Bernicat said among those accused in the blogger murders were students from private, top-tier universities, contradicting a conventional wisdom that militancy grows out of poverty and a lack of other options.

She said while this type of extremist violence wasn’t unique to Bangladesh. “Bangladeshi citizens are concerned that it is occurring with increased and disturbing frequency.”

“It is absolutely worth our investment to engage in preventive work to erode the sympathy and support for violent extremism among at-risk populations,” she said.

She also highlighted a number of programmes the US was carrying out in Bangladesh for deterring extremist tendencies.

She said Bangladesh has the advantage of not having moved beyond Phase Zero. “We must remain vigilant, however, to ensure Bangladesh remains at Phase Zero”.

She also thanked Bangladesh for joining the countering violent extremism summit in Washington.

She said after the summit, the US had renewed its commitment to working with the Bangladesh government to block efforts of terrorists to make inroad in the country.

Those commitments include by strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law, and increasing opportunities for young people to participate in the socio-economic future of Bangladesh.