Government measures have made it possible to strengthen the prevention of religious radicalism in Kazakhstan

Measures taken by the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2017 helped significantly strengthen the prevention of religious radicalism in Kazakhstan. This was stated by the Minister for religious affairs and civil society Nurlan Yermekbayev at a briefing in the Government's press center.

Nurlan Yermekbayev reported that the Ministry has taken a wide range of practical measures during 2017. Thus, a package of legislative changes was developed, the ideological basis of which was the « Concept of state policy in the religious sphere for 2017-2020».

According to the Concept, control over religious propaganda is being strengthened and state functions for monitoring the activities of religious associations are being expanded. At the same time, the state will still not interfere in canonical and religious issues.

Within the framework of interdepartmental work, steps are being taken to counteract destructive religious movements ideologically and informatively. The Government has established a special Interdepartmental Commission that deals only with religious issues. As a result of this interaction, security around religious institutions has been strengthened, and channels for distributing religious materials have been constantly monitored.

Since August 1, the Cyberschit project has been implemented jointly with the Prosecutor General's office and the MIC. A special resource has been created within it — kibernadzor.kz. In addition to site monitoring, an examination of books and printed products is carried out. Also, together with the Ministry of internal Affairs, a special service for the rehabilitation of those convicted of religious extremism has been organized.

In addition, the system of awareness raising has been modernized, which is now built under the coordination of the MRACS. The composition of special theological and information groups has been reformatted and expanded to include theologians, activists, experts from NGO, the media, and religious associations.

Since the beginning of the year, they have held more than 17 thousand events with coverage of more than 1.8 million people. Special attention is paid to working with young people. During this period, 700,000 young people participated in more than 6,000 events organized for them.

A project approach has also been developed to work with risk groups. The main partner of the Ministry in this direction is the rehabilitation center «Akniet», which works in places of deprivation of liberty. Employees of the center work among those convicted of religious extremism and with their family members.

A network of consultation centers has been set up to help victims of destructive sects. The Ministry's partners in the project were 24 NGOs. In difficult regions, there are not just consultation centers, but full-fledged psychological rehabilitation services.

The project « Hotline 114» received a great positive response from the population. In 2016, it received more than 500 requests from citizens. This project allows you to consult citizens and quickly respond to signals of violations. In General, the situation in the sphere of religion is monitored on the basis of a multilateral partnership. As a result, the influence of destructive religious ideas gradually decreases.