Since the 2019 fall of ISIS’s so-called “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria, many
countries have been faced with the challenge of repatriating female foreig


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Female Foreign Terrorist Fighters: Challenges In Repatriation, Prosecution,
And Rehabilitation



(New York, N.Y.) – Since the 2019 fall of ISIS’s so-called “caliphate” in Iraq
and Syria, many countries have been faced with the challenge of repatriating
female foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) who traveled to the region to
participate in the conflict. In its new analysis report,Female Foreign
Terrorist Fighters: Challenges in Repatriation, Prosecution, and Rehabilitation
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, the Counter Extremist Project (CEP) examines the ways in which female FTFs
were radicalized; the evolving nature of their repatriation and prosecution;
and the differing methods of rehabilitation and reintegration in Australia,
Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom,
and the United States.

 

Following the territorial defeat of ISIS, an estimated 1,840 to 1,912 total
FTFs returned to Western Europe and another 59 returned to the United States.
Thus far, approximately 209 female FTFs have returned to the above listed nine
countries. Originally, women who traveled to Syria were generally considered
“ISIS brides” and were charged and prosecuted leniently in comparison to their
male counterparts. Although evidence has suggested that criminal justice
systems have steadily began to treat women as violent extremists in the full
sense of the word, they have been slower to provide adequate repatriation,
rehabilitation, and reintegration support for women seeking to return to their
home countries. Nations across Europe as well as Australia and the United
Kingdom have demonstrated increased hesitation towards actively repatriating
female FTFs, despite encouragement from the United States, due to heightened
concerns of recidivism and domestic security.

 

As the report demonstrates, repatriation is an important aspect of breaking
the cycle of extremism. It serves as a crucial way for security services to
monitor and regulate individuals who they believe to pose a risk to national
and global security in the long run. By delaying the repatriation of female
foreign fighters, governments’ rehabilitation and reentry programs will face a
greater challenge in dispelling hardened extremist beliefs. It is vital that
governments not only charge and convict female FTFs as appropriate, but also
provide the necessary rehabilitation support to mitigate or eradicate any
potential future risk.

 

To read CEP’s resource Female Foreign Terrorist Fighters: Challenges in
Repatriation, Prosecution, and Rehabilitation, please click here
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.

 

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