ISIS FAMILIES OR ISIS VICTIMS?

THE CASE OF CHILDREN BORN UNDER ISIS

Table of Contents

Approval Page .............................................................................................................................................. i

Declaration ................................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.ii
Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.iii

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Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................... iiivi
CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................................................................57
Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................................57
1.1 Theoretical Background ....................................................................................................................................57
1.2 Problem Statement.........................................................................................................................................912
1.3 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................................................913
1.4 Research Objectives......................................................................................................................................1013
1.5 Research Questions ......................................................................................................................................1114
CHAPTER TWO ..................................................................................................................................................1215
Literature Review .................................................................................................................................................1215
2.1.0 Women and Isis .........................................................................................................................................1215
2.3.1 Effects of war on Children .........................................................................................................................1418
2.4 Debating “Foreign Fighter” ...........................................................................................................................1722
2.1.1 Recruitment ...............................................................................................................................................1823
2.1.2 Role of Women in ISIS ...............................................................................................................................1925
2.2 Why People Join ISIS .....................................................................................................................................2025
2.3.0 Children and ISIS ........................................................................................................................................2026
2.3.1 Why Children join ISIS................................................................................................................................2228
CHAPTER THREE..............................................................................................................................................2330
Methodology ..........................................................................................................................................................2330
3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................2330
3.2 Research Design............................................................................................................................................2330
3.3 Research Approach .......................................................................................................................................2432
3.4 Sample Selection ..........................................................................................................................................2533
3.5 Data Collection Methods and Tools .............................................................................................................2633
3.6 Data Analysis.................................................................................................................................................2634
CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................................................2735
Results and discussion ..........................................................................................................................................2735
4.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................2735
4.1 Demographic Information ............................................................................................................................2735
4.2 How to Treat Children of ISIS Parents ..........................................................................................................2937
4.3 Reintegrating the Parents .............................................................................................................................3140
CHAPTER FIVE ..................................................................................................................................................3444

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Conclusion and Recommendations .....................................................................................................................3444
5.1 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................................3444
5.2 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................3646
References .............................................................................................................................................................3748

Abstract
Foreign ISIS affiliates have led to their children facing problems that they are not aware of. Both the home
countries and the host countries are not offering them the help they need. They have been deprived off their
rights, and they do not know where they are supposed to seek refuge. The host country feels that the children
are not part of them and the respective countries where their parents hold citizenship should be their source
of help and not the host. On the other hand, the home country feel that the parents ran from their democratic
country to go to a war-torn zone to help the terrorists in destroying their home. As such, they do not feel
they are part of them anymore, and some have responded by revoking citizenship to these people, especially
women. Children are therefore left stranded with no help. This paper gives an account of how the issue can
be resolved by having the government change their perspective about these children. It is a report to
convince the governments and the society to rebrand the children from “ISIS families” to “ISIS victims.”

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CHAPTER ONE
: INTRODUCTION Formatted: Line spacing: single
1.1 Theoretical Background

Islamic State of Iraqi and Syria (ISIS) have left behind many children born to non-Iraq ISIS
brides and fighters from abroad. Most of the countries have turned a blind eye on helping these
children saying that they are not their citizens, despite their parents being citizens in these
countries. Baghdad is already forcing countries to take responsibility and return the children home
(Akbarzadeh & Conduit, 2016). However, European nations such as Germany and France have
refused to admit the children, naming them ISIS families (children of terrorists). Thousands of
babies have been born and brought up in the Islamic state (IS). Now, the various governments in
the world ought to resettle whether and how they should be reintegrated in their respective
societies. As the militants retain only flakes of the Syrian territory, Western countries are under
pressure to decide how these minors, who have qualified to be citizens through their parents,
should be dealt with-which includes the foreign fighters who took atrocity abroad (Akbarzadeh &
Conduit, 2016).
The vast number of children trapped in ISIS face risky and uncertain future as the debate on
what to do with them continues. About 100 of the kids in Syrian refugee camps are believed to be
British ISIS members (Akbarzadeh & Conduit, 2016). They are discriminated in the camps
because they do not share the same premises with the rest of the population; they are hosted in
isolated places with women who are said to have served ISIS in the past. However, the numbers
vary depending with the researcher. Soufan Centre, an research organization against terrorist with
the headquarters in the United States, have estimated that there are more than 700 minors belonging
to foreign Jihadis still in the war-devastated Syria. On the contrary, Save the Children have found
at least 2500 kids belonging to 30 nations in only three camps. International Centre for the Study
of Radicalization (ICSR)’s 2018 report indicates that more than 3704 kids have been taken to ISIS
by the careers or parents. Almost 400 of them are from Morocco, more than 350 from Russia, 460
from France, and the rest divided among other Western countries. Some of the children have been
able to return home while others are still stuck in the camps. A number must have been murdered
in the ISIS territory. Most of the kids are forced to witness awful acts of violence which include

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people being beheaded or executed (Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015). As such, their current situations
in the camps are dire. They do not get enough services like the rest of the population in the camp
such as food and medical attention since they live in isolation (Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015).
Despite these problems that these children undergo in the camps, there has been less talks
about them in the past years, until some women came out and demanded that they want to return
home where they can raise their children in peace. Their home countries include European and
American Nations. As a response to this, these countries have failed to receive them back by
revoking their citizenship (Alexander & Alexander, 2015). Some of the parents though, are
desperate to take their children back home to raise them in a better environment. It is important
that the regimes abroad, UK and US included, maintain their obligation of care to their citizens
and follow a human rights-based technique in their rehabilitation and repatriation. If this is not
withheld, then there is the threat of continuation of similar issues by the Jihadists, meaning that
there will be continued violence and instability in the generations to come (Alexander &
Alexander, 2015). Yet, only a few foreign kids have been extradited. ICSR reported that by July
last year, for example, British had only seen the return of four kids. Although there are obstacles
to taking the children back to their homeland such as identification, blames have been thrown onto
these regimes for stalling to avoid making hard decisions. Additionally, other such as the Khurshid
family, are battling to get their nephews, nieces, or grandchildren to India from Iraq and Syria.
More than a hundred Russian kids have been taken home to their family, many following requests
by their parents who have already been executed.
The fate of the children of the Islamic fighters or immigrants remains unknown. With the
parents having their citizenship stripped, the future of the kids born of these families remains at
stake. Most of these would-be returnees have shown regrets and remorse for their deeds and they
have promised that they are ready for a change once they are in their home country (Speckhard &
Yayla, 2015). Others have already transformed for better and denied the claim that they did take
any active role in ISIS. However, all these does not matter. The point of revoking their citizenship
is that they were involved in activities of a groups with a dedication to destroy their homeland, and
the discussion as to whether they took active roles within the group or not is not of concern; it
would not help moving the government. The government argues that terrorism does not only
involve killing and murdering, but it extends to the whole support network. For example,
culpability of murder involves all those with the secret plan for the whole thing.

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 To protect the future and ensure there is a lower probability of the children turning out to be a
threat to the nation, the world regimes should emphasize on the well-being of the children born or
raised from infancy in the ISIS territories. The world governments have believed that the children
have already been primed to be terrorists in future or have an anti-social character. Therefore, it
will be hard to incorporate them into a democratic country of their origin. However, the
governments should understand that the children are only victims of the whole process; no child
chooses to be born as a member of the ISIS. Therefore, they deserve assistance and support from
their home country. It is the mistake of the ISIS that they make the kids undergo torturing moments
at their country of hostage and using them for gruesome actions. Some children become
perpetrators while others are only victims of the situation (Speckhard & Yayla, 2015). Regimes all
over the world have the responsibility to care for the children, while guarding against any risk that
they may pose to the rest of the population. Many researchers have spoken to the women-widows
and wives-who are married or were married to ISIS militants about the betrayal and loss they have
faced, and their greatest fear is that the children will always be haunted by the stigma of the choices
their dads made. This is how the children are traumatized. As such, the government should make
efforts to rehabilitate them so that they can become useful members of the community.
The government should rethink of the children as victims and not as families of the terrorists
because as mentioned above, a child does not choose to be born in an ISIS family. Therefore, they
may fail to accept the parents back as the parents had a chance to remain in their democratic
country but chose a different path. However, they should allow kids to have a chance to change
their lives for better regardless if their experience at the ISIS territories. Syria and Iraq are usually
stricken with the problem of economic crisis due to the political instability. As such, it is so unfair
for them to take care of the children of people who entered into the country illegally, especially
bearing in mind that neither of their parents were citizens of Iraqi or Syria. Dome officials i9n
these host countries says that the home nations should be responsible for the misconduct of their
citizens.
The misery lives of these children will continue as long as they remain in Syria and Iraq. In
some instances, the children are left orphans where the two parents are either dead or they have
flown to other countries. In other circumstances, the parents could be facing extended executions
or death penalties following what they have done (Alexander & Alexander, 2015). Either way, the
children does not bear any good legacy of their family or stigmatization continues following the

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misdeeds that they were not involved in any way. Some of the children would get lucky through
adoption from Westerners and their lives would change forever. However, their suffering
continues as many countries such as Russia continue to discourage or ban adoptions. This,
therefore, remains the best time that the Westerners should rethink of the situation and treat the
children differently. There should be no distraction if the two parents are dead. Foster statuses
should apply when the parents are facing execution, same way they should have applied in the
home country. Even if the governments ban adoption, the babies should be returned to their
respective nations where their parents once held citizenship. Life in a Syrian facility is way worse
than that in an American, British, or German facility where the children would offer better
opportunities. This follows Damascus’ and Baghdad’s declaration that they will not continue
offering aid to such children; that either the host or the original home should take care of their
basic needs (Akbarzadeh & Conduit, 2016).

People have been visiting nations that have conflicts and this has brought in a lot of concerns.
Families and the community has been the greatest victims of these fears about losing their loved
ones to the civil wars, the state and many security agencies are equally concerned about the threat
to security that these people try to pose (Bakker, Paulussen and Entenmann 2013, 3). There are
fears that the foreign fighters may bring in radical movements that will prepare the nation to some
terrorism risks (Byman 2015). A significant number of publications both in the national and
international platforms have been published in the recent years. They have print Medias have
majorly focused in the aims of the fighters from the west in Syria and Iraq. What made the west to
move to these war zones? Another subject of concern has been their participation in the human
rights violations. A factor that has been of great concern is how the foreigners have been involved
with the war in our nation. This includes the dangerous situation in which the war in our nation is
getting at. A few journalists have had the courage to conduct a research on what is happening.
Moreover, connecting to the Syrians on phones or through the internet has been so hard.
Technology has been avoided as a safety measure.
ISIS has continuously lost its territories in the Middle East, this was thought to be a major
reason as to why the Western Military would withdraw and return to their nations (Reed, De
Royvan Zuijdewin and Bakker 2015). Even though this will take long, but on the event it happens,
then it will open up the books on some of the experiences that have been gotten in Syria and Iraq.

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What is the life of an average person who has travelled to Syria join ISIS? People who have moved
to Syria to join ISIS have often been labelled jihadist by the media and politicians. But one question
that arises, do they become fighters automatically? These are some of the questions that can be
well explained by the people who have come from Syria or by those organizations that have been
involved.

1.2 Problem Statement

This research is crucial in helping shape the academic discussion surrounding the topic of ISIS
families and ISIS victims. Among the ISIS families and victims are children of parents with no
Iraqi or Syrian nationality status. There are lots of discussion going on concerning these children’s
rights. The continued debates have only accelerated the poor conditions of these children as they
are termed terrorists or children of terrorists. This is a common complaint of mothers who have
realized the mistake they did by joining ISIS, thus they have seen the need to return to their
respective homelands and give the children better lives (Peresin & Cervone, 2015). It has become
hard on how to classify the children as either ISIS families or ISIS victims. This study addresses
this problem by looking at the reasons as to why the children should be treated as ISIS victims and
not ISIS families.
Most of the recent research literature covers topics such as recruitment of women to the ISIS
group, role played by the foreign Jihadists, women and the Islamic Militancy, ISIS families and
how they survive in their country of hostage, and the problems and solutions to the ISIS victims.
This offers a gap in literature on how to term the children born in ISIS families because they are
part of the families, yet they did not choose to be part of the families. This makes it hard to
categorize them, and it is the source of the governments’ retaliation to take the children back home
because they see them as terrorists and not victims who deserve help.

1.3 Significance of the Study

The research is needed for several reasons. First, the research will be needed to help in providing
a criterion of selecting the victims and the terrorists. Some victims have been labeled terrorists due
to in deliberate. Many innocent children are suffering for mistakes that they have little knowledge
about because they have been branded “ISIS families.” This research will enlighten the society to

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avoid such prejudged ideologies without considering the root of the problem. It will help the
children get their justice by changing their brand from ISIS families to ISIS victims. The
governments can then find a reason for accepting the children back into their homeland an give
them better opportunities. The camps in Syria and Iraq have turned to be de facto prisons for these
branded children. Iraqi army, government offices, tribal leaders and communities have insisted
that there is no justification as to why the children should be taken back home. This has been
contributed by the inadequate research on how to term the children in families with ISIS
affiliations. This research will offer a solution to this by identifying reasons why the children are
victims and not ISIS affiliates.

1.4 Research Objectives

 To investigate the reasons why most of the governments have failed to accept the ISIS
affiliates who have surrendered back into their original homes.
 To find out the universal definition of victim, to justify whether the governments and the
society are right terming the children whose parents are ISIS affiliates as “ISIS families”
instead of “ISIS victims”
 To assess how ISIS group have led to the problems that the foreign families are currently
facing in the camps.
 To investigate whether the children who return home can bring any significant changes to
the society.
 To find out the reasons why people join ISIS fighters in a foreign country only to be
abandoned together with their children.
 To find out the difference between a victim and a family of ISIS
 To examine how risky, it is getting the children back to their homeland and how
beneficial it is, and see if the positive side outweighs the negative one.
 To investigate how much of terror activities that he parents and their children in the ISIS
territories have been involved in to help in assessing the scale of the risks that integrating
them in the society would pose to the government and to the community at large.
 To analyze the willingness of the parents with ISIS affiliation to return to their homes and
contribute significantly to the development of the nation.

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1.5 Research Questions
The following research questions aim to help with the study achieving its objectives and provide
a comprehensive understanding of the complex situation of the children living in the ISIS
territories.
 What is the universal definition of a victim that would allow to differentiate between a
terrorist and a victim in any terror activity?
 What are some of the reasons that have made the governments reluctant to provide help for
the children whose parents are ISIS affiliates?
 How have ISIS led to the suffering of children whose parents are ISIS affiliates?
 Why did the parents of these children join the terror group?
 Are the parents ready to change their lives for better?
 What is the difference between an ISIS victim and an ISIS family?
 Are there instances that children have been returned to their home countries and changed to
be productive members of the society?
 What are the risks of taking the children back to their homelands and are the risks more or
less than the benefits?
 How much of terrorism activities have the parents and their children been involved with?

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 CHAPTER TWO
: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1.0 Women and Isis
When some scholars talked about foreign fighters and the globalization of the ISIS some years
ago, people thought of recruits as males. Most references to women and such kind of organizations
portray women as victims and not participants of war. In most of the civil wars all over the globe,
women have basically been involved as passive participants while men are considered to be the
ones that take the active role in every part of the wars. The same have been presumed of ISIS that
as females remain passive in the fights, the, males are the ones ready to take the suicidal missions.
As such, female recruitment and role in the ISIS have received less traction in scholarship. Most
of the people know women as brides to male fighters in ISIS; however, they are more than that. A
small, but increasing number of young Muslim women, especially from the West, have joined
many ISIS fighters in Syria and Iraq. More than ten per cent of ISIS recruits from the foreign
countries are from Australia, North America, and Europe. From this, a significant number of them
are women and girls aged between 18 and 25 years. France and the UK takes the lead, and the rest
of the American and European countries follow. This situation for the so called ISIS wives is
worsening with time, as the organization continues to refrain from their actions. Researchers have
indicated that the number of women arriving to the ISIS from abroad to join the group have
increased in the past few years. As the group’s demise was approaching, it appears like everybody
wants to get rid of these ISIS brides-especially the ones involved in the active undertakings in the
group’s actions. The biggest question remains why the ISIS fighters are targeting to recruit
foreigners, more so from the West with supposed access to secular freedoms, to join a group known
to be among the leaders in convulsive treatment of women.
Ali (2015) made research on how women get exploited through propaganda by ISIS. First, he
made an assessment that ISIS makes a portrayal of women in their publications. It sexualizes
women, this can be demonstrated by the Sunni women of Nikkah al-Jihad and how they got
summoned by the official guidelines that got published on the Yezidi slaves' price. This was
specifically aimed at satisfying the sexual needs for the Jihadi fighters. Through the research, he
argues how women are presented according to the roles that differ by purpose and target audience.
For instance, “Manifesto for Women” informs us how ISIS makes an argument on how they
believe women to be mothers in the first place. They argue how the position of a woman is in the

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house and not the society. She, therefore, should partake the responsibility of taking care of their
husbands and children. Women should leave their houses when in veils. The Arabic Manifesto
was published specifically for Arab speaking women. It is worth noting that ISIS propaganda is
one of the effective tools being used to recruit women from the West.
On the contrary, Ali (2015), argues on the case of Aqsa Mahmood, this is one of the "Jihadi
Brides" who works as a concept of how women have been fused to the mythological aspect of
“warrior woman”. Mahmoud and many like her portray themselves as living the Muslim life the
true way and therefore being actively in control of the ISIS fighting spirit. Al-Khansaa is a female
police brigade who is also part of these examples. There exist photographs of women who are
armed and are dressed in Niqab and Burqa. Many of the young women who have traveled to Syria
have paraded their images online on how they are in the battlefields and acting as the female
jihadists.
Ali (2015) has indicated how ISIS women were used to portraying propaganda through
comparisons of the publications with that of the Taliban group. The research has shown that
subjugation of women exists in both the Taliban groups and the ISIS. The difference of Taliban
from ISIS is the act of sexualizing of women as discussed in the Sexual Jihad chapter in this paper.
Moreover, there exist comparisons in the propaganda that is aimed at showing that there is
manipulation of responsibilities and expectations from women. Thus, there is a major difference
in the ISIS propaganda from Taliban who constantly portrays that women should be hidden in the
homes.
By making comparisons of the propaganda, ISIS has a propaganda a strategy that is far wide-
reaching than that of the Taliban, since they rely heavily on social media. ISIS employs modern
technological techniques to ensure they publicize what they are doing to the world. For that matter,
the media’s daily portrayal of the ISIS is just but a mere propaganda strategy to the benefit of ISIS.
The media uses footages and pictures from them so as to report their daily lives and how they
operate. Only a few journalists can access them and make reports, this is due to the protection that
has been cordoned in these areas.
The theorist has also made discussions of the tactics that ISIS employ, they include shock and
surprise. Due to that, they killed and burned the Pilot from Jordan. They also ensured that their
beheading videos are very normal. They use women in all these activities. Apparently, ISIS is very
obsessed with sex whereas the West is obsessed with ISIS. When the media generates headlines

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and blogs, they simply approve of their agenda to popularize themselves and raise fear. Thus, 22
stories have been published with an intention to fascinate those who are inclined to join ISIS. These
are some of the activities that relate to recruitment activates. Ali (2015) has made an analysis of
how ISIS use women to spread propaganda and the reasons why they do that. Publicities through
the cases that include Aqsa Mahmoud sprout headlines in the media such as newspapers. There
are three distinctive subcategories;
Arabic women, with fluency in literature like “Manifesto for Women”
Western women like Aqsa Mahmoud and the women police brigade Al Khansaa
Men like fatwa who are the sexual jihad and endorsement of sexual jihad.
The analysis clearly showed that ISIS approval of the sexual jihad was a choice that answered
the call of Nikkah ul Jihad and is enslavement through force. This was a clear portrayal of how
ISIS recruits its soldiers. In his view, ISIS is a world that is made up of men and is supposed to
satisfy the men who have an obsession with torture, murder and the desire to rape and abuse women
and children a provide Islamic justifications that are untrue. In his own opinion, Ali suggest that
there is the norm on sex and sexual abuse of women, ISIS leaders who pretend to work according
to the Islamic teachings when they are truly not.

2.3.1 Effects of war on Children

(Council of the European Union 2017) tabled their concerns on FTFs, and recently they posted
their concerns about the risks that come with the returnees (Van der Heide et al., 2017). They
argued it is either they are on assignment to attack or recruit people, or they have committed crimes
abroad or they have mental problems (For instance AIVD 2017). The Dutch General Intelligence
and security service (AIVD) and the National coordinator for security and Counterterrorism
(NCTV) made a report in April 2017 (Minors with ISIS) (Minderjearigen bij ISIS) (AIVD and
NCTV 2017) (Bakker & De Bont, 2016). The publish never focused on the returnees alone but
also how the life for the minors was like in the caliphate and the experiences they had. Some FTFs
will have to be charged with offenses that were committed in Syria and Iraq, therefore there need
to be considerations of rehabilitation and reintegration or control of the risk chances.
Correlation of war project gives some definition and the differences in the type of wars that
exists; International wars and civil wars. International wars are subdivided into; interstate and
extra-systemic wars (Sarkees, Meredith & Frank 2010). Interstate wars are defined as “Those

14
which take place within states that are members of the interstate system.” (Sarkees, Meredith &
Wayman, 2010). Extra systemic wars are defined as “those which take place between states that
are not recognized as the member states" (Sarkees, Meredith & Wayman, 2010). So as to turn into
civil wars or intrastate wars, the definition is as follows; any armed conflict could involve 1.
Military action is internal to the metropole of the state system of the member. 2. The participation
of the federal government. 3. The resistance that is effective from all sides. And 4. Approximately
1000 battle deaths during years of war. (Sarkees, Meredith & Wayman, 2010).
Albertyn wrote an article that gave information about the information that is based on the
African continent and the levels of conflicts that it has seen. The information has not tailored on
the effects the war has brought to children (children soldiers too). This paper attempts to give
statistics on those children. Apparently, over 2 million children have been killed from the
battlefront, 6 million maimed and 12 million are homeless, I million separated from their families
and 10 million suffering from psychological traumas. These may not be small numbers but they
present the fear that is being projected towards children. The war in Africa has brought about
instabilities and conflicts that have been caused by these wars the conflicts were majorly inspired
by the social needs among the politicians and the basic requirements for the subjects. In Africa
alone, over 120,000 to 20000 abduct people and use the most severe ways to kill.
Children soldiers will first be taken into rigorous training and espionage; this is accompanied
by weapons which they use to kill. They are exposed to violence, therefore, they have to respect
their elders. Children may also be taught how to take painkillers and alcohol so as to enhance the
power to fight. When young girls are recruited, they are not hired for these jobs but they as serve
as prostitutes. This is one factor that has led into the contracting of HIV/AIDS the UN has made
attempts to burn all those children who are under the age of 18 t be involved in any military
conflicts, however, this is not the case, underage children get exploited. These wars later result in
Internally Displaced Persons and refugees who are fleeing from the persecution of war and
violence. The UN defined a refugee as a person who flees their country for the same purpose as
that of the refugee.
Children’s health is then composed of conflicts and mortality and infections and probably
malnutrition effects. Children also die from starvation or from illness. Some of the children may
experience diseases that include Cholera, Malaria, HIV/AIDS and measles. The children are also
vulnerable to war-related injuries that include bullet wounds malformed limbs or amputations.

15
Landmines have been known to account for over 12000 deaths across Africa, this has clearly not
exceeded the deaths related to wars. (Albertyn, 2003). When there is rampant war, the road
networks become so bad and scarce, therefore food supply is hindered, leading to malnourished
children and starvation. Anxiety, PTSD, depression, insomnia have been named as the major
psychological problems that are related to these wars. These effects may continue even after the
war has long ended.
Moynagh wrote an article where she argues about the relation of human rights and child
soldiers, and how significant the correlation can be. She argues that there is a reason why the rights
have to be restored back to the children. She says that there are chances that the humanitarian rights
of a child soldier may be assumed. There is a difference between a child and a soldier, therefore,
it is important to note the difference and value the significance that human rights can be to them
(Moynagh, 2011). Child soldiers have been assumed to be epitomes of violence. Without the
intervention of Humanitarians, the child may be viewed as a perpetrator rather than a victim
(Moynagh, 2011). Children have their rights embedded in the international law, under the
Convention on the rights of a child, universal declaration human rights and the international
criminals Court (ICC) which strongly forbids children who are under 18 years from being in the
military.
It is significant to take note of that children are stripped of their rights under international law,
rights to children and forced labor (Moynagh, 2011). Many of these children join the rebel groups
voluntarily, however, when the conflicts come to an end, it becomes hard to reintegrate them into
normal lives. These children tend to be comfortable holding arms and joining war tone areas
(Moynagh, 2011). Moynagh argues that children act as the figures of a crisis in any human futurity.
There are different ways to look at children either as a soldier and a human (Moynagh, 2011).
Adult VEOS view the significance of risk assessment and an individual look at it as very important
to the reintegration and rehabilitation process of JVEOs. For that matter, there should be juvenile
detention centers or facilities that should be distinct between males and females, violent and non-
violent, temperament and maturity and finally social and psychological needs.
The age of a person gives the role they will play in the caliphate. As argued here, many
governments assume that children join these rebel groups during puberty (AIVD 2017, 7-8). This
clearly means that children have varying experiences, this may not be the same violent experience
as those of teens. In comparison to adult offenders, juveniles have been noted to be emotional and

16
mental when it comes to the prison context. This can be perpetrated by the prison staff or by the
adults who have been incarcerated as well (Garcia, 2016). The differences may be influenced by
the experiences in the caliphate which makes them different from matured adults. As for male
genders, they are expected to be part of armed conflicts and pieces of training (AIVD 2016, 7-8).

2.4 Debating “Foreign Fighter”

The belief about foreign fighter has begun making its way into academia in forms of subcategories
of analysis. The term has not received the required probing it requires (Mendelsohn, 2011). Such
probing may not be the agenda of this paper, but we shall address some few comments in its
relation. Hegghammer (2010) argues that there are established foreign fighters who are in the
discrete actor category which is not the same as the lost between local rebels and international
terrorists. Hegghammer makes attempts to bring along the reasoning behind international relations,
but the term is problematic due to the obscurities it has. Mendelsohn makes an argument that the
term Foreign fighter is a state-centric notion that marginalizes the transnational processes of
identity formation that could be of help in explaining foreign conflicts (Cf. Mustapha 2013).
The foreign fighter literature helps to explain the participation of people who are in conflict
countries but are not citizens of those nations. This can be related to those who predated the
outbreak in Syria and traveled to Iraq (Mendelsohn 2011) or the terror war. The literature also
made an attempt to focus on the behavioral features and inspirations (Weggemans, Baker and Grol
2014)
The literature also made explorations on the security implication that can because of the
citizens in foreign conflicts. Some researchers argue that Syria/Iraq look at the travelers through
the lens of National or international security (Baxter and Davidson, 2016). Others have noted that
there could be a limit of realization in the worst scenarios such as making invitation of safe havens
that are next to conflict zones and government awareness of the situations (Byman & Shapiro,
2014) Historical analysis is based on the typology of past conflict behaviors that are portrayed by
foreign factors, these are constructed from terrorists, recruiters or transnational insurgencies as
well as those who are returning to peaceful lives (De Roy Van Zuijdewijn 2014). Historical
distributions could be unknown. Hegghammer (2013) collected data where one out of every nine
foreign fighters return for the domestic attack, this later brings about veteran effects and gives
space for nuance which is a concern of the security of citizens who are part of the foreign conflicts.

17
 Scholars argue that there is a need to have significant government strategies. Hafez (2009, 90)
argues that intelligence collected or invested in borders control, or diplomacy on international
scales or amnesty programs should be scrutinized with great concern. Bakker, Pulussen, and
Entenmann (2014, 27-29) look at the role that the national actors that include intelligence agencies
and local actors who may include police departments, families, and communities who have
regulations that range from strict measures (Passport revocation and legal action). This article
argues on the perspective of Bakker, Paulussen, and Entenmann (2014, 31) where there should
avoid securitizing and politicizing issues related to foreign fighters.

2.1.1 Recruitment
As the ISIS territories continue reducing with time, the importance of social media in their
recruitment and operations continues to grow. With the internet, jihad wars have become
globalized through a reduction of the chasm between the Middle East and the Western countries.
This makes it easier for the existing members of the group to reconfigure with no geographical
barriers. This has made it hard for the governments to get hold of the fighters, and also makes the
groups so hard to deal with. Now, the governments need to shift their concerns from the
diminishing ISIS territories, but to the increasing number of new fighters, particularly the women
who are ready to do anything as a payback to the discrimination they receive in their home
countries. They won’t rest until the government have felt the pinch they feel after being alienated
in their own countries. Additionally, they are giving birth to ISIS children, some of whom have
already been recruited to join the group, not because they are willing to, but because their parents
are members and they cannot help.
Windsor (2018) carries out an investigation to show the reasons why young women have been
undergoing radicalization with a will to take high-risk political behaviors, and the factors
influencing their sociopolitical change. According to him, a decision to become radicalized is
because of political, social, and economic dynamics, and the internet communication acts a
facilitator of the same. Some Muslims keep comprehensive history of their radicalization stages
through the social media platforms, and this is what the researchers use in understanding their
sociopolitical shifts. Through an evaluation of language, it is easy for a researcher to understand
how their political, social, and personal growth unwinds. Windsor (2018) carries out a study where
he examines the words of Aqsa Mahmood, a young Muslim woman, who migrated from her home

18
nation in Scotland to join ISIS fighters in Syria. Her Tumblr blog explains her ideological, political,
and linguistic record of her radicalization process. Her blog posts reveal a typology of language
that women can use in the course of their process of radicalization.
Many young women have been lured to join the organization through fake promises that the
ISIS leaders make to them. There are several trends in languages that women chose to use in the
social media that make it easy to track their radicalization process. This is evident in the case of
Aqsa Mahmood by Windsor (2018). Through her language of self and other, she seems to walk
away from her previous identity and lose herself in the radicalization process. In the middle of the
process, she keeps changing her tone and most probably her attitudes about family and work, and
with that, she discovers that she has the prowess of recruiting other young women. First of all, she
accepts to take risks, but then she becomes a risk avoider. Most of the researchers have previously
not been able to identify an individual extremist with violent agendas, but through AM’s blogs,
Windsor (2018) was able to. From the research, a core lesson that can be learnt is that a caregiver
or a parent can critically influence the radicalization phases. Her consistent posts that test the
intervention of her parents and their comfort levels are an indication that they need the parents to
approve their requests and that they are the guides. The late adolescent years are a hybrid of
supervision and autonomy. Therefore, parents play a great role in the children’s participation in
these groups at a later age, or in the whole process of radicalization. If the parents have ill-motives,
then the children will have the same and they will be forced to join the terror groups.

2.1.2 Role of Women in ISIS

The case of the Syrian civil war has demonstrated the complex shift in the role of women in
conflicts. Male actors have dominated the transnational terrorism over a long period since they are
physically active and stronger than women and they are capable of travelling and participating in
perpetrating the violent actions in the war-torn countries. ISIS have discouraged active
participation of women in the fights, although this has been changing over time. The transnational
that the ISIS does is a clear indication that the role of women within the organization is restricted
to safer and more remote environments than males. According to Adam (2015), the influence of
women depends on the influence of the natural development process during the tender age,
especially adolescence. Trafficking might also influence the participation of the women in violent

19
activities. Some of the women sold abroad are prosecuted as sexual workers instead of being saved
and rehabilitated as victims of abuse and kidnap.

2.2 Why People Join ISIS

Every person, not just males as it has been speculated in the past, can join ISIS through all means
including the social media platforms that help the foreigners in travelling to Syria and Iraq in
pursuit of the promises they are given by the extant members. A research carried out by Awan
(2017) cited some promises that ISIS gives to women to encourage their participation in the group.
They have been promised romance and return of influence to Muslims who have been marginalized
in the past, adventure, sisterhood, ISIS as a safe haven, important responsibilities in state building.
These promises climax in a promise of utopia for the females, especially if they agree to be brides
to ISIS fighters and make new fighters and members for the group. Here, women are forced to get
kids for the fighters to increase their population. In a similar manner, other researchers suggest
that some females who join the organization as a portrayal of being empowered. Gielen (2015)
says that some women join ISIS as a result of a rejection of the feminist norms in the Western
nations. Particularly, there have been stereotypical representation of the Islamic religion as
misogynistic, and the discussions going on in the west about the religion makes the Muslim feel
alienated.
Research have shown that some of the countries are exclusive of the Islamic traditions, such
as Netherlands and France, and the Muslims living in these nations find it hard to express their
religious affiliation. This has created the state of Islamophobia and xenophobia which acts as one
of the major drivers of exclusion and a break of an integrated society, and thus giving the reason
for the people in such societies to see ISIS as a haven for the Muslims who have been rejected in
other nations. According to Speckhard (2015), having an association with ISIS is portrayed to be
romantic in the internet since women feel loved when they are given some sort of freedom that
they cannot get from their home country due to the discrimination and alienation. At home, these
women are denied a fundamental right and their actions are justified if they can get it elsewhere;
they feel that ISIS would fulfil their rights.

2.3.0 Children and ISIS

Zara and Farrington conducted a study that focused on the features of the life of offenders, they
concluded that children and adolescents struggle with internalization problems which influence

20
their engagement in crime related activities as adults. They also face the cases of level of life failure
that comes out as onset offenders (Zara and Farrington 2013). As a result, the researchers
concluded that intervention would serve as a potential solution to the risk that may materialize
from a young age. They also argue that the role of parent’s support is to provide the ameliorating
developments and facilitate social adjustment. The main feature of a self-proclaimed ISIS is the
protective factor that from desensitized events in their personal spheres that include friends and
family.
Zhand, Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber conducted a study that made an analysis of the correlation
between deliquesce and the attributes from a developing perspective. They concluded that there is
a significant value in the children’s attitude towards violence (Zhang, Loeber and Stouthamer-
Loeber, 1997). As per the research conducted, youths tend to be tolerant to violence more than
they are defiant. Apparently they are passionate about criminality than their counterparts who had
once engaged in the vice. There are two reasons behind it; first, during socialization, ISIS more
likely to develop attitudes that are tolerant and positive to violence which would later culminate to
vulnerability. Secondly, there is an absolute difficulty to understand behavior that comes from the
hindsight, this is the only indicator that focuses on children’s attitude to return from Iraq and Syria.
The way to deal with juvenile offenders has evolved considerably in the past 20yrs. These legal
changes have considered de-radicalization and restoration techniques in many nations that are
dealing with juvenile VEOs. Regardless the positive developments there are concerns about the
characters that emerge from punishment instead of rehabilitation, prosecution instead of diversion
or detention. The best treatment to the regular law breakers has been determined to be rehabilitation
which serves to be the most efficient program that could be similar to reintegration. The
departments that are tasked with the responsibilities to rehabilitate children and the youth in
correctional setting have lost the insight of the appropriate methods to do that. This is due to the
assumption that comes with moniker “terrorist”. The political pressure that comes with it is also a
major contributor to the constraints in the rehabilitation.
Rehabilitation has in often times responded to the public on how the juvenile terrorist should
be sanctioned. Therefore, instead of the approach to exceptionalism the violent criminals, this
study presents an alternative method which is rehabilitation and reintegration. This is in
considerations of the existing plans to consider looking into the conditions of the juveniles who
have been incarcerated for being participants of the violent extremisms. the study will also consider

21
some of the approaches that should be considered to prevent violence and extremisms and instead
embrace crime prevention and rehabilitation.

2.3.1 Why Children join ISIS

It has proven difficult to understand how children end up being soldiers; could be for food, safety
or the salary they get. There is no ability to differentiate a child soldier from a child as a person.
Child soldiers may have their human rights taken, though they are protected under the law. Civil
wars are brutal and long lasting; the consequences of the war are felt after the war has ended. These
conflicts bring about very detrimental effects to the citizens of the nation, it brings about droughts,
starvation, death, mental illness and the dreadful images of violence (Kingsley 2017). This
research provides the case study in how wars infringe the population. Nations such as Columbia,
Afghanistan and Somalia have had their nations destructed and humanity in a crisis, this has
culminated to a nonfunctioning government which affected the region definitely.
Many children feel the compel to join these groups since there is no government to intervene
(Kingsley, 2017). When there are one or more opposition groups that are violently attacking and
finally overthrowing the government, it becomes so hard to run a country with a stable
governmental system. The effects that come with these wars end up affecting the children a big
deal. Therefore, it makes it very difficult for these very children to be disarmed, demobilized or
reintegrated because they have a unique experience in combat. They are therefore, prevented from
living like normal people and their basic rights are withdrawn. Kingsley (2017) discovered that
many civil wars are brought about by ethnic tensions and conflicting neighbors. The tensions from
these misunderstandings rise to a level of conflict and therefore war. When neighboring nations
are at a conflict with one another, there is a conflict that gets brewed like the Arab Springs.
Apparently, these findings have confirmed the theory and hypothesis of interest which will be used
to collect detailed information that is concise and well researched upon. Is it possible to achieve
global peace? However, it must begin with the stalling of wars and internal conflicts due to their
abilities to cause severe destruction

22
CHAPTER THREE
Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This chapter aims at defining the research methods that are used in conducting the study. The
researcher clearly explains how data and information that are necessary in addressing the research
objectives and questions. It also describes Was how data was collected, presented and finally how
it was analyzed. The main reason and justification for the research design, data sources, data
presentation techniques, research instrument and analytical techniques are also correctly given.

3.2 Research Design

Heppner et al. (1992:15) describe a research design as a structure or a plan for a given investigation
or a list of procedure and specifications for controlling and conducting a research project. In other
words, this can be described as a master plan which aims at indicating the strategies to be used
when conducting a research. A research design helps in serving as a master plan of the procedures
and methods that are to be used when collecting data and analyzing the data data that is needed by
the one who is making the decisionthe researcher needs. The design of the research is deliberately
planned arrangement which has conditions to be used in the analyzing and collectingcollection and
analysis of data in a way that makes it easy for combination of relevance to the research purpose.
Majority of the data collection techniques are commonly available to the researcher to ensure
exploration of a given phenomenon. They include face-to-face interviews, questionnaires, focus
group discussions and telephonic interviews. In most cases, telephonic interviews are not able todo
not allow the researcher to be able to observe the participant’s environment and expressions thus
leading to it not being a reliable optionit becomes an unreliable option. As the potential participants
are on a vast geographic area, the group of interviews were not viable option therefore the face-to-
face and individual interviews through the use of semi structured interview schedule were selected
as the technique for data selection in this phase of study. The researchers therefore sought to use
semi-structured questions where they met with each of the respondents, thus allowing a focused
conversational communication between the interviewer and the participant. This decision was
arrived at after weighing the advantages and the disadvantages before using them.

23
The advantages and disadvantages of an interview (Brink, 2002)

3.3 Research Approach

The Advantages Disadvantages

Participants do not have to be able to read Interviews can be time consuming and
and write. expensive.

Responses can be obtained from a wide Arrangement for interviews may be

range of participants. difficult especially if potential
interviewers cannot be contacted
telephonically.

Nonverbal behavior can be observed. Subjects may feel obliged to provide

socially acceptable responses.

Questions can be clarified if they are Subjects may be anxious because lessons
misunderstood. are being recorded.

In-depth responses can be obtained. Subjects may be influenced by the

interviewer characteristics especially if the
interviewer is known to them.

More natural form of interacting with

people than any other method of data
collection.

researcher chose to use exploratory research approach. For this approach, the researcher conducts
a study on a topic that has not been thoroughly covered so that they can boost the final research
design, offer operational definitions, and establish priorities. To date, limited knowledge exists
about coming up with proper means of identifying as to whether the children born of ISIS parents
should stay in the host country or should be returned to their motherland. Owing to this reason,

24
this research study wished to effectively come up with adequate way to state whether children
whose parents are ISIS should be termed as ISIS families or ISIS victims. If they are ISIS families,
then the governments’ claims to reject them will be justified. If otherwise, then the research will
recommend that the children should be in their homeland.
The article will present the key findings of the ISIS war in Iraq and Syria; coming up with
empirical evidence about the historical events that took place in these two countries. Evaluating
these findings allows the researcher to come up with a conclusive study that may be of help to both
the academic field and for the governments in implementation of policies about the ongoing
debates. There are various advantages of exploratory research which act as motives for the
researcher’s choice of this approach. One of the advantages is that the research gives the reader an
understanding of the topic in question. Generally, exploratory studies help in improving the
knowledge of the researcher. It is not employed to draw definite conclusions as it does not have
statistical strength, but it can show how and why things happen. Additionally, this study allows
for flexibility of data sources as both primary and secondary data sources can be used. Thirdly, the
research can be used as a milestone by the decision-makers such as government executives. In this
study, the governments can use the recommendations offered at the end of the study to help in
coming up with the correct decisions about the children of ISIS fighters.
3.4 Sample Selection
To get a sample that would represent the whole population, the researcher used non-probability
sampling. HereIn this type of sampling, the researcher gathers the samples in a process which does
not allow equal selection chances in the whole population. This called for the use of purposive
sampling technique whereby the researcher selected the participants of the study depending with
their knowledge on the subject area. Unlike other sampling techniques, snowball sampling is not
concerned with randomly selecting a samplAnother criterion for the selection of a sample was
snowball sampling. Here, the researcher gave the respondents a chance to refer them to their
friends whom they knew would provide adequate and relevant data to the study. Purposive and
snowball sampling methods were adequate for the study as the sample population was agreed
upon.e from the population to make statistical inferences. It involves focusing on certain features
of a population that interests the researcher that will enable them to answer the research questions.
In this case, the population of the study was the military personnel in Kurdistan region and women
who have been part of the ISIS group. The sample size for this research was 18. 15 of the

25
respondents were soldiers who were sent questionnaires via email. Those who had enough
knowledge on the topic were the ones selected to take part in the research. The remaining three
individuals were women who had taken part in the war as members of the terror group.
3.5 Data Collection Methods and Tools
To collect the data (which is used for as the primary data from which the discussions are drawn
from, the researcher used questionnaires and interviews to collect the data from fifteen
respondents. The sample contained of military people from Iraqi who have had ample experience
on the war against ISIS in the country. They should be having knowledge on the role that the
foreign fighters have played in the organization, recruitment process in ISIS, how women and
children are handles, and reintegration problem of these migrants into their home nations. ten of
these soldiers filled the questionnaires while the remaining five were interviewed. The data, in this
case, were analyzed accordingly.
Interviews and questionnaires are the best ways that can draw the researcher close to the
participants while they are giving their responses. For the interviews, the researcher can gain
enough information when they have the eye contact with the interviewee. They can easily read
their reactions, including facial expressions and other body language. Since the study demanded
for sharing of the information about the research topic, then other methods such as surveys was
not possible. Also, observation was not possible as the events discussed here are historical.
3.6 Data Analysis and Presentation
Data analysis followed data collection process. The collection process involved recording and
transcribing of interviews. Data reduction followed where In data analysis, the researcher
transforms the digital information collected into a simplified, ordered, and corrected form
(Silverman, 2016). Questionnaires and interviews were analyzed and the results presented
together in forms of tables and pie chartsThis involves drawing of charts among other methods
and this helps in drawing general conclusions..

26
CHAPTER FOUR
: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Formatted: Centered

4.0 Introduction
Since the researcher of the study incorporated the use of semi-structured interviews and
questionnaires as the main primary data collection method, a thorough analysis of the same was
conducted. Qualitative data analysis method was used as the main data analysis method for the
interviews conducted. On the other hand, quantitative data analysis was conducted for the
questionnaires used. The analysis of the data was carried out for the five interviews conducted and
the ten questionnaires issued to study’s respondents. For the interviews, the researcher utilized
responses that had been already recorded with a voice-recording gadget so as to allow the
researcher to keep track of the key responses issued that may prove to be of significant essence to
the study.
This section aims to come up with a description of the various findings obtained from the data
collected. In addition to this, the researcher wished to share a discussion with regard to results
obtained on the ISIS war and the involvement of foreign fighters and their children. The results
presented in this study were as a result of individual opinions from each of the fifteen respondents
involved in the data collection exercise. The reason behind this was aimed towards ensuring that
the responses obtained from this endeavor had not been altered in any way whatsoever.

4.1 Demographic Information

The representative sample was supposed to be in a way that they provide the researcher with a
research that was diverse and extensive. As such, the researcher selected a total of 15 respondents
to take part in the study. An assurance was required for the participants to be conversant with the
topic of discussion. From this sample, five of the participants were female and ten were male. The
researcher mixed the genders to ensure that both actively participated in the study to avoid any
form of bias in the results obtained and also ensured that the data obtained was comprehensive and
diverse. Another way to ensure diversity of the results was selection of both active and retired
military personnel. Additionally, this ensured that the researcher have an insight of the history of
the war and the foreign fighters and their children, as well as what is happening currently. Also,
diversity was ensured by having people from different age groups take part in the study. Besides,
the participants must have been residing in one of the countries (Iraq or Syria) for the past ten

27
years for convenience purposes. This ensures that they have the ample information about the
dynamism of the war, contrary to a person who could have gone to a mission elsewhere outside
the borders.

Demographic data of the respondents

Respondents Gender Age of the Military status

respondent
1 Female 31 Active
2 Male 30 Active
3 Female 42 Retired
4 Male 33 Active
5 Male 28 Active
6 Male 30 Active
7 Female 31 Active
8 Male 32 Active
9 Male 45 Retired
10 Female 37 Retired
11 Female 35 Active
12 Male 26 active
13 Male 25 Active
14 Male 27 Active
15 Male 32 Active

The data presented in the above table shows that the researcher involved people from across
all ages and this ensured that they offered sufficient knowledge on the topic. People of different
ages have different experienced on the undertakings of ISIS as well as the different governments
all over the world. The oldest of all was 45 years with the youngest being 25 years old. The
researcher made sure that every person, whether active or retired, young or old, male or female,
was able to answer the questions posed.

28
4.2 How to Treat Children of ISIS Parents
For many years, as seen in the literature review section, most of the world’s governments have not
been able to term the children of ISIS parents as either victims or terrorists. It has been hard to
determine whether to call them ISIS families or ISIS victims. These children have been born in
ISIS and they have seen a lot terrorist activities happen in daylight. Some have even been forced
to join the group and the governments have termed them as “young wolves.” Reintegrating these
children and their parents back into the society where the parents once held citizenship have
become difficult over the years even after the defeat of the terror group. Most of the children have
been struggling to go to school only to find out that the schools in these war-torn zones have been
destroyed. Studies have shown that children in these regions feel safer while at school. Research
have shown that people across the world have insisted that these children should be put at the core
of every planning of the post-war Iraq and Syria. It is imperative that this is an urgent matter that
does not only involve these two countries but the rest of the world, especially where the parents of
these children once held citizenship.
From the current study, 80% of the respondents said that the children should be treated as
victims while only 20% of them felt that the children should be considered ISIS families and they
should be prosecuted.

How to Treat the Children of ISIS Parents

20%

ISIS Families
Victims

80%

29
 The future of Iraq and Syria depends on how they treat the children in the post-war period.
The children have the potential to be better people in the country or even elsewhere around the
globe. Most of the respondents in the study felt that the children should not be punished for the
mistakes that their parents did. The children did not choose to be in the Islamic State. As such,
efforts should be made by both the host country and the countries of origin to take the children
back into their motherland. Most of the scholars (as seen in the review of literature) have agreed
on the fact that it is difficult to integrate these kids into the society regarding the environment that
they have been exposed to in the past. However, the governments continue to abandon the kids in
the region where tomorrow is never known. The governments feel insecure with the fact that no
one can be trusted to raise these “young wolves” in their peaceful countries.
Some children have chosen to be in the ISIS military, yet 80% of the respondents felt that they
should as well be integrated within the societies as this would change their lives. Research have it
that some of the children who have joined ISIS was not out of their will; Mostly, they are lured
with fake promises or they are forced to join out of their parent’s poor choices. From an interview
with Dulbar Mamad, the researcher added to this knowledge by the fact that the children’s choices
to join the organization are not voluntary. She said that her father was a Russian spy in the ISIS
and when the members noticed this, he was beheaded in front of her as they tried to run away and
return to Turkey where they had been leaving. She was taken to the prison and separated with the
rest of the parents. She was told that if she wanted to get out of prison, she had to marry an ISIS
member and she had to give in to the plea as long as that helped her get in touch with her family.
The mission was successful and she got in touch with her brother and sister and later they moved
to areas which were controlled by Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). She says,
“I am innocent in all of this and I do not want to be treated as an ISIS wife. Who wouldn’t
want to go home it’s my country my home, I have been away from home for 6 years, my nation is
important to me. Tell me who wouldn’t want to. ISIS tortures people, my ex-husband tortured me
and I came here thinking that if I give myself to authorities I would have a better life but even here
I am imprisoned, everywhere I go I get imprisoned. I thought to myself that life was difficult but
a better life will come. Look at where I am, with ISIS, an ISIS camp, I am imprisoned. I cannot go
out, I cannot move, I can’t do anything here. Nobody understands what I have been through and
how I feel. I do smile and do talk but I swear by god that my heart is depressed, nobody understands
how I feel. I do not think like ISIS, to kill him or her or this is a kaffir or bomb places and not

30
know who to behead, I don’t have this way of thinking. If someone is a Yazidi, Muslim, Christian,
or Shia what does it have to do with us? I haven’t created them god has created them why are you
angry at me, why not wear a colorful clothe why must you always be angry and if I choose to wear
colorful clothes it is my personality and what does it have to do with you. But no all they know is
behead them.”
Children have been exposed to things that they would never have wished to be in. The
governments should consider this as the debate on how to treat these children heats up. The
children are innocent and the government should be thinking of programmers that will help in
rehabilitating these children and making them good members of the society for the best of their
tomorrow.

4.3 Reintegrating the Parents

The current research found out that some of the women who joined ISIS did it either willingly
or by force. 60% of the respondents say that the parents should be integrated back into the country
of origin but criminal justice process should follow to prove them innocent or guilty. These
respondents felt that they should be locked if found guilty as their actions were a form of betrayal
to the society. The rest (40%) felt that they should be left to stay in the countries they chose to be
in with their spouses.

Reintegration of the Parents

Justice should be sought

40%

They should remain where they

60% chose to be

31
Most of the governments and the society fail to support the reintegration campaigns from the fact
that the fighters, or the family of the fighters, had a chance to live a good life in their peaceful
respective countries, yet they chose to run away and settle in a war-torn zone, with their spouses.
Afterwards, they want to pose a threat to the national security. Most of the governments, including
the Trump’s, have retracted from allowing these people back into the countries of origin. On the
other hand, human rights organizations feel that leaving them in the camps does not help them in
any way, neither is it of benefit to the government. The main reason why it is so hard to reintegrate
women back into the society is that it is hard to tell whether or not they participated in active
violence in the ISIS because women are stereotypically seen as victims even if they have played a
big role in the group.
The current research found out that some of the women who joined ISIS did it either willingly
or by force. 60% of the respondents say that the parents should be integrated back into the country
of origin but criminal justice process should follow to prove them innocent or guilty. These
respondents felt that they should be locked if found guilty as their actions were a form of betrayal
to the society. The rest (40%) felt that they should be left to stay in the countries they chose to be
in with their spouses.

Reintegration of the Parents

Justice should be sought

40%

They should remain where they

60% chose to be

Some of these respondents felt that taking these people to court will not be a solution to the
problem. According to some, most of the victims and terrorists together have been beheaded by

32
ISIS while only a few have been taken to court only to show that there is an operational justice
system. The relatives do not even show up out of the fear that they might as well be convicted.
The fact that some people join ISIS out of will is evident from an interview with Um Zuber, an
Algerian psychiatrist from the camps who joined ISIS willingly. For her, ISIS is all about religion
and she was feeling okay being in the group. She opted to leave her luxurious life to join the group
for religious reasons. She says,
“…since the start of ISIS I have been with them and I am one of the women leaders in ISIS and
just because I am here it doesn’t mean I will behave differently. I am accepting of everything that
has happened even being in the camp is part of my life, and I had everything, car, house, and
money but I don’t want money nor fortune, I only want to live a simple life. I want to choose what
I think is right, I willingly joined ISIS and willingly left them because they needed to be stricter
and harsh in enforcing Gods religion.” She feels that the tents have become her place of dwelling
and even feels safer there. She feels that nothing is more important to her than religion. She says,
“I have sold everything for the sake of god and this is an exchange between a Muslim and God, it
is like this you sell and he grants you heaven.”
Like the children are forced to join IS by force, some women have been forced to join the
group against their will. This has been explained by the 60% of the respondents who feel that
people are denied justice by letting them stay in the camps throughout their lives. An interview
with Lina fikht Slee, a 27 years old woman, ethnically German, proved this notion. She was lured
by her ex-husband who was a member of the ISIS. He told her, ‘Lina, come to join me you will
get rewarded, have you seen how Muslims are in the videos. Bashar killing women and children’
and she gave in to the proposal. She later was forced to marry an Afghani but they later broke up
and she started the life in tents after she told him that she did not love him. She reports, “I want
my country, I want my mom and dad I want my brothers and sisters and I want life for my children.
These people here keep telling us that we are ISIS and I keep telling them I am not ISIS and then
they tell us that we will all die here. I haven’t sought out the democratic just so I can die here.”
This means that whatever she did, she did not do it out of will, she is only a victim of circumstances,
and so are her children. Therefore, the children should not be left alone to suffer in the war-torn
country while neither they nor their parents are a member or affiliate of the evil group.

33
CHAPTER FIVE
: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusions
In the study, the researcher conducted a study revolving around the children whose parents are
ISIS members or affiliates. For years, the children have been living a life of uncertainties. Their
mere existence is an issue for their parent’s home nations and now they have been stigmatized for
being the children of Jihadists. Some of the governments have accepted to take the children back
with a lot of restrictions while others have turned a blind eye on them. Yet, some of these children
are very innocent who instead of shouting out the Jihadist messages, they simply cry and cough in
their cribs. Syria and Iraq feel that the governments should re-issue citizenship for the individuals
who have been denied going through the borders again, so that they can ease the pressure in the
country. The countries are in the process of rebuilding from the amass destruction brought about
by the IS. As such, they should save the little resources they have for their citizens and for the
development of the areas that had been occupied by the ISIS members. Most of the countries have
refused to heed this call to take their citizens back to their country, and they have decided that
since these people chose to be with the IS, then they should remain in their host country. They do
not care whatever they are going through, and their justification is that the citizens were not
patriotic enough to stay in their own countries; rather, they chose to ally with the enemy and fight
their own people.
People join ISIS for different reasons and this is a core factor that the governments across the
world should put to consideration when discussing about the children of the ISIS fighters.
Although there are some people who join the ISIS willingly, others have been forced or lured into
it. In the process, children are born and they cannot be blamed for this. Most of the children do not
choose to be who their parents are and this is what the government should be concerned about.
Children are only victims of the circumstances. The choice of the parents is the one that should be
under question. Mostly, mothers are the ones who fall into the trap. A big percentage of the foreign
fighters in the two states are women. The foreign women are usually married to the ISIS fighters
and they bear children. Most of the women do not take active roles in the group. However, in the
recent past, the group was seen to employ a lot of women to train in armed combat. The children
born of ISIS families do not know what to do, and they only have to follow directions from the
parents. Some are forced to join the group and become child soldiers. These children are exposed

34
to a lot of brutal things such as people being beheaded, bombs, among others. They have therefore
developed to be dangerous and the ISIS take advantage working with the kids because they have
long lives than the adults.
The researcher interviewed some military officialssent the questionnaire to millitary personnel
of all ages to get an insight about the reintegration of the children as well as their parents to help
in answering the research questions. Additionally, the researcher also interviewed three women
who have been engaged with the ISIS, either passively or actively to get an insight of the problems
that they are experiencing in the camps as well as their willingness to return to their home country,
and how they landed in the camps. Majority of the respondents feel that the children should be
allowed to return home as they have not done any mistake being in the war-torn country. It is not
their choice, but their parents’. They should not be punished for the misconducts performed by
their parents. The governments feel that the children are ISIS families and they should be allowed
to suffer together with the rest of the terrorists. For many years, the children have been treated
same as the parents, or even worse. At the camps, they are excluded from the rest of the refugees
and IDPs in that their tents are far away from the rest of the population. They get less attention
from the government and other organizations. The children do not have access to education and
health facilities. They have therefore become malnourished with poor health state. This puts their
lives under risks, yet the governments are quiet about it. What the government is worried about is
the national security of the rest of the society since these children have been exposed to much
brutality and they have been considered as “ISIS cabs” or “young wolves.”
There has been calls for the government to stop the war on children. Most of the scholars,
human rights organizations and other interested parties have tried as much as they can to convince
the government that the kids who have stayed under the control of the ISIS have encountered
horrific experiences such as bombardment, acute deprivation, and violence of all forms. Most of
them have lost their family members and friends and now, they remain in the risky camps in Syria
and Iraq, where they become sick and malnourished, and there is no enough supply of the basic
needs including education and health care. These parties have made it clear that they are not
defending offenders or supporting the actions of the parents, but the rights of these children should
be defended by all means. They believe that the respective governments are responsible and they
have the power to allow in these children and offer assistance for their recovery from the traumatic
experiences-their reintegration into the society.

35
5.2 Recommendations
The research offers the following recommendations;
The governments should develop approaches to identify their respective citizens from the various
groups of individuals in the camps so that they can take them back home. For the parents, they
should be taken through the justice system to ensure that they prove to be guilty or innocent. If
innocent, they can be taken through therapy to help them recover from the awful experiences with
the IS. If found guilty, then the law should take its course. For the children, they should be treated
as victims and not as offenders since it is the mistake of the parents being with the ISIS and not
their own. After they return, they should be taken through rehabilitation process to ensure that they
are fit to safely stay with the other members of the community. This can be done through various
governmental and non-governmental programmers that should be specifically introduced for re-
integration only. Additionally, the government should have a plan on how the reintegrated people
will be useful to the society by getting them jobs to do and letting them build their lives afresh.
For the children, they can be taken to school so that they become useful people in future. Also,
before reintegration, the governments should assess the extent to which every member have been
exposed to the terrorism and offer appropriate measures for rehabilitation. Also, the government
should help the citizens to see the value of being productive members in the society rather than
engaging in Jihadist fights which only leaves their lives and that of their children under risk.

36
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