Though not in conflict, Bangladesh is at risk of higher levels of terrorism, according to the Global Terrorism Index report.The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a Sydney-based non-profit research organisation, published the report yesterday, calculating various political, social and violence factors to determine the risk.
Bangladesh ranks 23rd among 162 nations in the GTI. Iraq was the country most affected by terrorism, while Zambia is placed last on the list.
Bangladesh is among the 13 countries vulnerable to high terror risk and third South Asian country in such a position besides Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The other countries are Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Iran, Israel, Mali, Mexico and Uganda.
The study also identified 102 countries, including Bangladesh, where no death from terrorism took place in 2013.
Three statistically significant factors associated with terrorism are state sponsored violence, group grievances and high levels of criminality, mentions the report.
Weak state capacity, social injustice, illegitimate and corrupt governments, powerful external actors upholding corrupt regimes, extremist ideologies, historical violence and conflict, inequality in power, repression by foreign occupation or colonial powers, discrimination based on ethnic or religious origin and failure of the state to integrate dissident groups of emerging social classes are also the factors.
“Terrorism doesn't arise on its own; by identifying the factors associated with it, policies can be implemented to improve the underlying environment that nurtures terrorism,” said Steve Killelea, executive chairman of IEP.
“The most significant actions that can be taken are to reduce state-sponsored violence such as extra-judicial killings, reduce group grievances and hostilities, and improve effective and community-supported policing,” he said.
According to the report, terrorism increased by nearly fivefold in fatalities since 9/11. It recorded 18,000 deaths last year, a jump of about 61 percent over 2012, and four terrorist organisations -- ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban and al-Qaeda and its affiliates -- are responsible for the casualties.
There were nearly 10,000 terrorist attacks in 2013, a 44 percent increase on the previous year, it mentions, dismissing any correlation between poverty and terrorism.
Religion as a driven ideological force for terrorism has increased since 2000 but religious ideologies as a motivation for terrorism is not a global phenomenon, says the report.
While it is predominant in Sub-Saharan Africa, MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and South Asia, in the rest of the world terrorism is more likely to be driven by political or nationalistic and separatist movements.
Five countries -- Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria -- accounted for 80 percent of the deaths from terrorism in 2013 with Iraq was the country most affected by terrorism last year.
“The latest jump in terrorist activity coincided with the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011,” says the report which examined 162 countries, covering 99.6 percent of the world's population.
Terrorism is increasing in Afghanistan, with ten percent more terrorist attacks and 13 percent more fatalities in 2013 than 2012.
The report emphasised on longer term priorities including addressing group grievances, ending gross physical rights abuses by the state and improving access to justice and the rule of law.
“Extremist Islamic movements that encourage the use of terrorism need to be counteracted with moderate theologies within Islam that advocate other non-violent methods of addressing legitimate political grievances.”
Published: 12:00 am Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Last modified: 2:54 am Wednesday, November 19, 2014
TAGS: Bangladesh affected identified substantial risk Global Terrorism Index (GTI)