Experts groups task 1 : Blogger Seel Sam

Former ISIS members returning to the United States 

History of ISIS

We all have heard about the Islamic State also known as ISIS, a militant organization is known for its terrorist attacks and violent assaults around the world with the goal of creating an Islamic State. That is called a caliphate and it would implement the Islamic laws of Saria, which is a traditional creed based on Islamic customs and practices. During its lifespan, it has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in multiple countries around the world, killing thousands of people. ISIS suicide bombers and gunmen have attacked public spaces across the world, from Iraq and Syria to Belgium even. Some of their well-known attacks include brutal beheadings of several American journalists, kidnapping hundreds of children, and bombing concert halls, stadiums, and airports in France and Belgium. In 2017, the Syrian and Iraqi governments declared that ISIS had been defeated.

Problem

Hundreds of thousands of wives, widows, and children of suspected ISIS fighters were detained in camps across the Middle East. These individuals are believed to hold a range of positions within the terrorist organization, such as suicide bombers, fighters, and administrators. While most of these people came from the Middle East, various ISIS members were recruited from France, Morocco, Belgium, and even from the United States. A majority of these people have surrendered from ISIS themselves. Some of the children and women confess that they were active members of ISIS themselves. The Islamic State has employed children as bomb planters, spies, and even suicide bombers for many years. Many children said they joined to escape horrible living conditions just because of pressure.

When the Human Rights Watch visited these camps where women and children were being held. They were shocked by the amount of human rights abuses and they have taken active steps to publicize the cruelty of the detention camps through mass media.

Thousands of women and children housed across Middle Eastern detention camps are living in dire conditions. These camps are overcrowded and unstable. The living spaces do not have running water. Even worse, people are starving because of the scarcity of food. Because of the increasing numbers of residents in these camps. Due to the lack of resources, children are denied access to education or healthcare. Children have died from hypothermia due to the excruciatingly harsh winter. Other children and infants have died from malnutrition and illness while living in these camps.

In addition to the terrible living conditions within the camps, the armed guards have used torture tactics to punish the residents. The women and children have been beaten up and permanently traumatized. Even though these people were still awaiting their trials, they were just treated as prisoners.

A gap in my knowledge

Here in Belgium, we know a lot about the former ISIS members and or their wives/children who wanted to return to the EU, but what we don’t hear a lot about are the people that were born in the United States who also want to return to their homes. This gap in my knowledge has inspired me to write this post.

While I was doing my research on this topic, I found out that it was not that easy to formulate an answer to my question. That there were a lot of possibilities as to what could happen to these people when they would decide that they would like to return to their homes in the US.

According to my sources, Americans are being quietly flown home from the former ISIS caliphate. Most of them await their trials on various charges of aiding and abetting the world’s most notorious terrorist group. Some agreed to plea deals with the US government; one has even served time and has already been released. One American opted for a trial and was sentenced to twenty years.

The handling of the returnees has been different from what Donald Trump has promised in his Presidential campaign in 2016. He vowed to use Guantanamo Bay (prison camp opened in Cuba) for captured ISIS fighters. “We're going to load it up with bad dudes”, he said. Trump announced a new executive order to keep Guantanamo bay open. “Terrorists who do things like placing bombs in civilian hospitals are evil,” Trump said. “When possible, we have no choice but to annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them. But we must be clear: terrorists are not merely criminals, they are unlawful enemy combatants.”

The Justice Department did not agree with Trump's opinions and opted to try ISIS returnees in US courts and even to release them and resettle some of them. The United States is committed to taking responsibility for its citizens who attempt to travel or did travel to support ISIS.

The Americans who travelled to the Islamic State were from all over the place. Some of the returnees were teachers, university students, F.B.I. translators, and so on. And most of them were born in the United States and were not immigrants, from people in their twenties to people in their fifties including teenagers who accompanied their parents when they left the United States and toddlers who were born in the Islamic State.

People who are born in the United State have a right to their citizenship and deciding their fates is a legal and moral minefield. National-security interests can conflict with individual rights. This was the case for Hoda Muthana, an American-born former ISIS member. She was a student at the University of Alabama when she travelled to Syria. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo stated, “Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and will not be admitted into the United States. . . . She’s a terrorist.” She was ultimately denied citizenship because her father held diplomatic immunity at the time of her birth, meaning she was ineligible for birthright citizenship. Pompeo's statement highlights the departure of US repatriation policy from the Department of Justice's (DOJ) due process and rehabilitation-based programs, indicating new national security concerns. The Department of Justice is now processing seven cases of former ISIS returnees, and it is estimated that over 20 American combatants are still in Syria and Iraq. Uninformed and hypocritical actions towards former jihadists and the Syria crisis as a whole have generated a number of possible dangers to US national security, according to an analysis of changes in American foreign policy. American foreign policy decisions have harmed the United States' reputation and diminished its influence in areas of worldwide importance by ignoring the relevance of foreign ties in national security. As a result, policies governing the repatriation of former ISIS members and associated difficulties must take into account both US military needs and international relations.

Conclusion

The current US stance on the rehabilitation of former ISIS militants follows a wider trend of retreating from multilateralism in favour of security interests. While the Department of Justice has pledged to try to rehabilitate former jihadists, the White House has highlighted the necessity of incarcerating the people and preventing them from re-entering American territory. This happened at the same time that the US threatened diplomatic relations with allies and refocused the military's involvement in international crises. To create a more well-rounded national security doctrine, future policy regarding ISIS returnees must now ensure domestic security while also emphasizing the importance of foreign relations.

This means that even though you’re born in the United States, you could have different rights than other US-born people, which I find very bizarre to hear because everyone should be treated equally and have the same rights if they were born in the same country despite their parents having diplomatic immunity, especially people who admit to being wrong and want to change. Like Hoda "I hope they excuse me because of how young and ignorant I was, really. And I can tell them that now I've changed. And now I'm a mother. And now I have none of the ideology. And hopefully, everyone will see it when I get back.”

While researching this topic I encountered a lot of limitations. There were a lot of websites that I couldn’t visit from Belgium. Some required payment or even a VPN to enter. Most of the articles that I’ve found were mainly about the returnees in the EU. I expected that actually when I chose my topic because most of the ISIS combatants who travelled to the Islamic State were from the EU and not that many from the United States. What I would do differently next time is read on the topic in Dutch as well.

For future research, I would advise myself to read more American news to catch up on the latest events. Use sources like BBC news. The history of ISIS is undoubtedly complex; yet, having a solid grasp of the context surrounding this issue will certainly help you as you develop ideas for potential solutions.

Bibliography

Kennedy, M. (2019, 11 15). Judge Rules That U.S.-Born Woman Who Joined ISIS Is Not A U.S. Citizen. Opgehaald van NPR.org: https://www.npr.org/2019/11/15/779788549/judge-rules-that-u-s-born-woman-who-joined-isis-is-not-a-u-s-citizen?t=1634466877264

Martin, C. (sd). Up to 3,000 Isis Children Living in 'Extremely Dire. Opgehaald van The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/13/up-to-3000-children-born-to-isis-families-housed-in-dire-conditions

Restifo, A. (2019, 12 04). Returning Home: Evaluating Statelessness among Former Jihadists. Opgehaald van Foreign Policy Research Institute: https://www.fpri.org/article/2019/12/returning-home-evaluating-statelessness-among-former-jihadists/

Vivian, Y. (2019, 05 08). Thousands of ISIS Children Suffer in Camps as Countries Grapple with Their Fate. Opgehaald van The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/world/middleeast/isis-prisoners-children-women.html

Wikipedia. (2021). Islamic State. Opgehaald van Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State

World Report 2018: Rights Trends in Syria. (2018). Human Rights Watch. Opgehaald van HRW.org: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/syria#

Wright, R. (2019, 06 11). Despite Trump’s Guantánamo Threats, Americans Who Joined ISIS Are Quietly Returning Home. Opgehaald van The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/americas-isis-members-are-coming-home