Abu Dhabi - According to David Malet, an author and an expert on the topic, Daesh could lose all its foreign fighters if governments and civil societies do a better job at giving these people a sense of belonging.
Published: Wed 28 Oct 2015, 11:00 PM
Last updated: Sun 16 Feb 2020, 8:25 PM
As the world is at a loss to figure out reasons for young men and women joining Daesh, a renowned lecturer said the phenomenon is not exclusive to the brutal terrorist group.
According to David Malet, an author and an expert on the topic, Daesh could lose all its foreign fighters if governments and civil societies do a better job at giving these people a sense of belonging.
He also suggested rehabilitation for 'victims of brainwashing' as it would spread the message of perils involved in joining dangerous foreign conflict groups.
Malet authored Foreign Fighters, an analysis of fighters involved in insurgencies from across the world in comparison with militants.
The book, published in 2013, attracted Tabah Foundation's interest and decided to invite Malet, a senior lecturer in International Relations at the University of Melbourne, Australia, for a public discourse.
Malet, in his speech at Tabah Foundation in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday night, outlined 'motivating' factors for youngsters, including the educated, to become fighters in conflict zones and how groups like Daesh exploit them.
Recruitment policy
According to David Malet, a former US defence and foreign policy aide, there have been 331 civil conflicts worldwide from 1815 to 2005 and at least 70 of them featured foreign fighters.
Malet said: "There is a wide range of talks about why these people do it, but the recruitment process is strikingly similar for all."
From the communists in Spain to the Bosnian war and beyond, these rebel groups always start the fight projecting a "weaker side", that is of defence.
They appeal to institutions, which have similar ideologies, appealing support from its members saying that "this is not just a distant fight, but a broader fight for our people; forget your country, you are part of a broader community; we will lose without your help and they will come for you next". Malet pointed out that this message would appeal to mostly young men who feel neglected, adding, recently recruiters began attracting young women too.
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Marginalisation
"Foreign fighters tend not to be poor, but many feel marginalised as they are either immigrants or from an immigrant family. They are not loners. They are connected with their ethnic community but not to the country itself," Malet said. His research also proved that many come from divorced parents and the groups they join, like the Daesh, become surrogate families for them.
A team of researchers from Harvard University has interviewed Daesh fighters and 70 per cent of them said they joined it to "defend sunnah from Western attack."
According to Malet, Daesh also made a few "innovations" in recruiting foreign fighters.
"Typically, it used to be young single men, but now entire families join the fighting, and recruiters also target young women as they are less likely to be stopped by security forces," said Malet.
"Many people are repelled `by the methods and brutality of Daesh fighters, but they are used intentionally," he added.
"They don't need everyone to like them, but they would rally even more support from their followers by impressing them with using brutality."
Do it yourself
'Do it yourself' or DIY revolution is another 'innovatory' recruitment method started by Al Qaeda to attract foreign fighters.
According to it, foreign fighters no longer needed to be recruited and checked through institutions.
Anyone was welcome to join the group and even run attacks on their own.
Al Qaeda's message, "if you can't join us, do your own attack and it would help," has become Daesh strategy now, added Malet.
Other modern trends include the "five star jihad".
Using social media, terrorists in Syria attract vexed youngsters with pictures of "confiscated" luxurious houses, with swimming pools, nice cars and good food. They also get women to recruit young women, whom the fighters may marry.
"Some even post pictures of themselves holding a cat, as if to say 'look at me, I'm really a nice guy'. The reality is, of course, different."
When they get caught, the majority of the young fighters show a high rate of post traumatic stress, needing extensive rehabilitation before they can stand trial.
'Returnee' concerns
Since 2005, about a third of foreign fighters have been killed and another third have returned to their home countries. The "returnees" has been an issue largely debated by governments recently.
"What to do with them? Allow them to resume life as usual? They have acquired fighting and terrorist capabilities and are too dangerous," said Malet, expressing some of the common concerns.
Many nations ban these people from ever returning home, but Malet is on the other side of the fence.
"A number of countries promote strict laws against returnees, but this is wrong. Preventing them from returning home means that they will move on to another conflict, gaining even more experience."
Denmark is one of the countries that allowed foreign fighters to return, but they went through a rehabilitation process and were offered jobs and got helped to re-integrate into society. The result was that some of them became the most powerful and effective public speakers against foreign fighters and the dangers and illusions of joining a foreign conflict group.
silvia@khaleejtimes.com
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