Munich security conference: ‘Integration is the key to fighting extremism’
British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned his country’s long-standing policy of multiculturalism as a failure.
MUNICH:
British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned his country’s long-standing policy of multiculturalism as a failure on Saturday, calling for better integration of young Muslims to combat home-grown extremism.
In a speech to the Munich Security Conference, Cameron signalled a marked change in policy towards Britain’s ethnic and religious minorities, saying that the “hands-off tolerance” of those who reject Western values has failed. He urged for a “more active, muscular liberalism” where equal rights, the rule of law, freedom of speech and democracy are actively promoted to create a stronger national identity.
“If we are to defeat this threat, I believe it’s time to turn the page on the failed policies of the past,” he told the conference during a panel discussion attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. His speech echoed controversial remarks made by Merkel last year, when she also called multiculturalism a failure, saying Germany had not devoted enough attention to the integration of immigrants.
Cameron said, “Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream.” He said this had resulted in a lack of national identity in Britain which had made some young Muslims turn to extremist ideology.
“A passively tolerant society says to its citizens: as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone. It stands neutral between different values. A genuinely liberal country does much more. It believes in certain values and actively promotes them ... It says to its citizens: this is what defines us as a society,” the British premier added.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon while addressing the conference said the turmoil in Egypt, Tunisia and other Arab countries demonstrates the risk of insecurity caused by a “deficit of democracy”.
“The causes of this instability includes: human insecurity, poverty, diminished or disappointed expectations, lack of good governance, corruption, ineffective governance of public institutions and deficits of democracy, “the UN chief said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Egyptians to show patience, saying regime change must be properly organised, citing her own experience in German reunification in 1990.
“Even though it is not directly comparable (with Egypt), we didn’t want to wait a single day,” Merkel said. We wanted to have the deutschmark right away. We didn’t want to wait until German reunification took place. But when it took place in October (1990) and we saw the scale of the necessary transition we were quite happy that some people had prepared things properly, she said.
She added: “This means that change be organised, and we the European Union, as said on Friday, want to be able to help arrange this organisation (in Egypt).”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 6th, 2011.
British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned his country’s long-standing policy of multiculturalism as a failure on Saturday, calling for better integration of young Muslims to combat home-grown extremism.
In a speech to the Munich Security Conference, Cameron signalled a marked change in policy towards Britain’s ethnic and religious minorities, saying that the “hands-off tolerance” of those who reject Western values has failed. He urged for a “more active, muscular liberalism” where equal rights, the rule of law, freedom of speech and democracy are actively promoted to create a stronger national identity.
“If we are to defeat this threat, I believe it’s time to turn the page on the failed policies of the past,” he told the conference during a panel discussion attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. His speech echoed controversial remarks made by Merkel last year, when she also called multiculturalism a failure, saying Germany had not devoted enough attention to the integration of immigrants.
Cameron said, “Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream.” He said this had resulted in a lack of national identity in Britain which had made some young Muslims turn to extremist ideology.
“A passively tolerant society says to its citizens: as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone. It stands neutral between different values. A genuinely liberal country does much more. It believes in certain values and actively promotes them ... It says to its citizens: this is what defines us as a society,” the British premier added.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon while addressing the conference said the turmoil in Egypt, Tunisia and other Arab countries demonstrates the risk of insecurity caused by a “deficit of democracy”.
“The causes of this instability includes: human insecurity, poverty, diminished or disappointed expectations, lack of good governance, corruption, ineffective governance of public institutions and deficits of democracy, “the UN chief said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Egyptians to show patience, saying regime change must be properly organised, citing her own experience in German reunification in 1990.
“Even though it is not directly comparable (with Egypt), we didn’t want to wait a single day,” Merkel said. We wanted to have the deutschmark right away. We didn’t want to wait until German reunification took place. But when it took place in October (1990) and we saw the scale of the necessary transition we were quite happy that some people had prepared things properly, she said.
She added: “This means that change be organised, and we the European Union, as said on Friday, want to be able to help arrange this organisation (in Egypt).”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 6th, 2011.