With Small Muslim Community, Italy Tries to Stop Extremism Before It Gets Started

Rapid expulsions of suspected Islamist radicals—combined with new integration efforts—are part of a new Italian experiment.

Italy is fast-tracking expulsions of dozens of suspected Muslim radicals—often at the first sign of extremism—taking a more aggressive approach than other European countries despite its limited experience with Islamist terror.

Since January of last year, Italian authorities have run checks on about 170,000 people for national security reasons and expelled 115 suspected extremists, including 12 imams, according to the Interior Ministry.

In July, two Moroccan men were expelled after one smashed a wooden crucifix in a Venice church. The other was repatriated after storming into a church and insulting the congregation.

In another instance in September, the government expelled a 33-year-old Moroccan who had served as an unofficial imam in the northern city of Treviso. He had lived in Italy for 18 years and embarked on the yearslong process of obtaining Italian citizenship. But in the final stage, he refused to swear on the Italian constitution because—officials suspect—he had become radical. “This means he was hostile to our traditions and disregarded the founding principles of our country,” Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said.

The rapid-expulsion strategy—combined with broader efforts to integrate Italy’s relatively small but fast-growing Muslim population—lie at the heart of an experiment to prevent extremism before it takes root on Italian soil. Unlike its biggest neighbors, Italy doesn’t have a large second- or third-generation Muslim underclass particularly vulnerable to radicalization, and the government has built its strategy around that fact.

“This is an advantage we need to exploit, acting quickly both on security and integration policies,” said Domenico Manzione, undersecretary of Italy’s Interior Ministry.

The twin approach has attracted the attention of allies, including U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who praised Italy’s counter-extremism efforts during an October visit to Rome. “We look at Italy as a leader in this field,” she told an audience of justice and law-enforcement officials there.

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