The report challenges misconceptions about the size and composition of foreign fighters to Ukraine, estimating that perhaps 2,000 foreign fighters have fought in the country—far less than the figure of 20,000—and that only small group of far-right individuals are amongst the foreign fighters active in Ukraine.
This policy paper presents insights regarding the prosecution of returnees in France, more specifically individuals who left France to travel to the territory of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq and returned.
This policy paper presents initial insights regarding the prosecution of female returnees— women who left Germany to travel to the former territory of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq and have returned.
A few hundred Western individuals with extreme right wing (XRW) or “nationalist” convictions travelled to fight in the conflict in Ukraine. Many had known each other from before the war.
Looking back to when Dutchwoman Laura Angela Hansen showed up in Iraqi Kurdish territory in 2016, her story (by now) sounds familiar, not least for the female jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) group. According to Hansen, she had luckily escaped the horrors of the “Caliphate”, a place she described as “hell”.
Based on the learnings from dealing with returned western foreign terrorist fighters who had joined ISIS and other terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq, EU member states should start preparations to ensure an individualized, comprehensive, and multi-professional case management of returning foreign fighters when they leave for the conflict zone, not just when they return.
Following the 2019 fall of ISIS’s so-called “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria, the repatriation of female foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) has led to a series of challenges. The way in which different countries handle the repatriation and prosecution of female foreign terrorist fighters has evolved over the years.
The Russia-Ukraine war has been attracting foreign fighters/volunteers since 2014. However, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022 provided a seemingly seismic shift in this field with up to 20,000 foreigners expressing an interest in joining the Ukrainian war effort.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, reanimated recruitment activities and individual motivations for foreign volunteers to travel to the war zone.Although by far the smallest number of volunteers traveling to Ukraine, foreign violence-oriented extremists traveling to Ukraine represent clear security risks.
Since the fall of the ‘caliphate’ of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), hundreds of European foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and their families remain incarcerated in overcrowded, insecure and unsanitary prisons and camps in Syria and Iraq.
The Yazidi minority of Iraq was specifically targeted for mass rape and genocide by ISIS. Many of the surviving Yazidis are crying out for justice for the crimes committed against their community, their families, and friends. Justice which has so far not been delivered.
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers.
Get the latest news on extremism and counter-extremism delivered to your inbox.