ETH Workshop on Swiss Security Policy: “Dealing with Foreign Fighters and Their Families after the Loss of ISIS Territory”

Keynote Speech

The opening speech gave an overview of the broader phenomenon of foreign fighters since the rise of “Islamic State” (IS). Some 6,000 individuals left Europe to join IS in Iraq and Syria, which means that European societies will have to work hard to understand the reasons for their departure and to find ways to address these causes. In addition, the question that now arises is whether these individuals pose a threat upon their return. This will have to be determined on a case-by-case basis. However, looking at what pushed these individuals to leave might give some indication as to the level of risk they pose on their return. The majority of those leaving in the early phase (2011-14) seemed to have done so in order to assist fellow Sunnis in Syria and sometimes to naively seek adventure. In its earlier days, IS portrayed itself as building an ideal Islamic society. However, this changed over time as IS increasingly encouraged its supports to directly commit attacks in their home countries.

Foreign fighters’ reasons for returning to their countries of origin vary. Returnees only rarely seem to engage in terrorism upon their return. Those who do have usually been sent back by IS to commit attacks in their countries of origin. Around 2,000-3,000 westerners remain in Syria (mainly woman and children). They are mainly being held in different Kurdish controlled facilities in northeastern Syria. Repatriating these individuals would be preferable, but public opinion in Europe seems to be strongly against it. However, at some point these people will have to be dealt with in their countries of origin. The issue will be how to integrate these individuals into societies rather than how to re-integrate. Most were never integrated in the first place, which was arguably one of the reasons why they left. Communities will have to take the lead these initiatives, which means that a bottom-up approach should be adopted.

Panel 1: Dealing with Returned Foreign Fighters

Since a significant number of foreign fighters have already returned to their countries of origin and not all of those currently abroad will be prevented from returning home at some point, the first panel looked at the challenges related to dealing with returning foreign fighters. The first input addressed the challenge of prosecuting returning foreign fighters, especially the difficulties associated with gathering data that can be used as evidence in a court of law in order to prosecute returning foreign fighters. International cooperation to further this end was also discussed.

The second input shared Germany’s experience in the area of deradicalization and reintegration of German foreign fighters. One-third of German foreign fighters have so far retuned home. In Germany, efforts to deracialize and reintegrate these individuals is mainly led by NGOs. This process requires a long-term investment and the approaches have to be tailored to individual cases. The “willingness to change” of respective individuals oftentimes determines the approach that is deemed most appropriate.

The third input summarized how foreign fighters are handled upon their return to Belgium. In the Belgian context, most of the returnees are sentenced to 3-5 years in prison. Since the numbers are too high, most returnees are tried by an alternative form of jury, which automatically halves their sentences. This is why the average prison sentence of returnees is so low. Female returnees are now increasingly being sentenced to jail. Those sentenced are usually dispersed across different prisons in Belgium. Special units exist for those who have engaged in recruiting others while serving their prison sentences.

Panel 2: Challenges in the Case of Non-repatriation (Syria and Iraq)

The second panel focused on the security, legal and humanitarian challenges related to holding foreign fighters and their families in northeastern Syria and Iraq. The first input highlighted the security questions linked to detaining foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq rather than repatriating them to their countries of origin. The security risks include, the lack of capacities “sur place” to handle the individuals being held, which runs the risk of prison breaks, the possibility that detained foreign fighters could be used as leverage by their captors, as well as the risk that foreign fighters could further radicalization and build up their networks while in detention.

The second input looked at the humanitarian situation in the camps in northeastern Syria. The speaker stressed that the humanitarian situation there has been created by the legal black hole linked to the fact that northeastern Syria is not a state and that the authorities there are not recognized by the international community. The situation in the camps - Al-Hol, Al-Roj, where Westerners are being held, and Ain Issa (emptied in October 2019) – was described as dire. Legal issues in Iraq, including the lack of appeals process, were also highlighted.

The third input covered the broader legal challenges related to non-repatriation of foreign fighters from Syria and Iraq. The difficulty of gathering information that can be used as evidence to prosecute foreign fighters was highlighted, the dilemmas associated with whether foreign fighters should be tried for terrorism-related crimes or for war crimes, as well as possible options for trying foreign fighters “sur place”(i.e. by the ICC or in special tribunals) were discussed.

Panel  3: Challenges of Repatriation: Spotlight on Minors

The third panel specifically addressed the challenges associated with bringing minors either taken to or born in ISIS-held territories back home. The first input gave a broad overview of the dimensions of the challenge. Children constitute a heterogeneous group: levels of indoctrination differ and some children are have experienced more trauma than others. On their return, individual, tailored support will be required.

The second input focused on the experiences of France in repatriating minors. Although the official policy was initially not to take back children, it changed as time went on. Now some 95 children have been repatriated and some 300 are still in camps. Most child returnees are placed in schools without the teacher being aware of their background. Many children suffer from trauma of one kind or another.

The final input discussed the experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina in repatriating individuals and focused on the repatriation of women and children in particular. The speaker pointed out that while individuals who returned earlier were often disillusioned, more recent returnees tend to be more indoctrinated and pose a greater risk. Treating repatriated women and children with respect was viewed as a critical factor in building trust with them – something that will be needed in processes of rehabilitation and (re)integration. Ultimately tailored approaches will be needed.

external page Interview with Richard Barrett in "Echo der Zeit" (German)

Further Reading:

Richard Barrett, Beyond the Caliphate, The Soufan Center, October 2017, external page http://thesoufancenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Beyond-the-Caliphate-Foreign-Fighters-and-the-Threat-of-Returnees-TSC-Report-October-2017-v3.pdf

Rik Coolsaet and Thomas Renard, “Foreign Fighters and the Terrorist Threat in Belgium”, Egmont Institute Commentary, January 2020, external page http://www.egmontinstitute.be/foreign-fighters-and-the-terrorist-threat-in-belgium/

Nadim Houry, “Bringing ISIS to Justice: Running Out of Time?” Human Rights Watch, February 2019, https://www.justsecurity.org/62483/bringing-isis-justice-running-time/

Tanya Mehra, Christophe Paulussen, “The Repatriation of Foreign Fighters and Their Families: Options, Obligations, Morality and Long-Term Thinking,” ICCT, 6 May 2019, external page https://icct.nl/publication/the-repatriation-of-foreign-fighters-and-their-families-options-obligations-morality-and-long-term-thinking/

Anthony Dworkin, “A tribunal for ISIS fighters?” ECFR, May 2019, external page https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_a_tribunal_for_isis_fighters

Fabien Merz, No. 199: Switzerland and Jihadist Foreign Fighters, CSS Analyses in Security Policy, No. 199, November 2016, https://css.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/gess/cis/center-for-securities-studies/pdfs/CSSAnalyse199-EN.pdf