People who leave their countries to join a terrorist organization in Syria tend to be poorly educated and economically disadvantaged, according to a recent report by the United Nations.
The UN office of Counter-Terrorism interviewed 43 people who had gone to Syria or planned to go to Syria to fight in the long-running conflict there. These people came from EU countries, as well as countries in North Africa and the Middle East. The UN wanted to understand what drove them to sign up, and why they ultimately returned home.
Although the researchers admit that the sample size is small, their findings help to paint a portrait of those who sign up to fight in Syria. Here’s what they found:
They’re mostly young men.
All but one of the people surveyed by the UN were men. And, most people were under the age of 35, both things that the UN said are consistent with other research in this area.
Many of these individuals are married, and most of those who are married have children. The UN found that the prospect of marriage was a motivator for several of the single fighters – something that’s advertised in ISIS propaganda.
READ MORE: How terrorists use ‘jihotties’ to lure lonely hearts online
It doesn’t always work out though. The lone female respondent travelled to Syria with her husband and ended up divorcing him there.
They’re poorly educated.
Only about one-quarter of the survey respondents had done any education beyond high school. Most had completed high school, though 44 per cent had only done some secondary education, had only primary school or no formal schooling at all.
READ MORE: More female extremists leaving Canada to join Islamic State
The low education of foreign terrorist fighters is in contrast with their leaders, who often have a university education, according to the UN.
They have low economic prospects.
Perhaps related to their low education, most of the people surveyed by the UN are low income as well. One-third of people were unemployed before they travelled to Syria. Seven were students who worked as street vendors. Other job titles included truck driver, merchant, construction and factory workers, and cleaners.
A majority of the people surveyed made less than US$500 a month. Although most people said that money wasn’t a factor in their decision to travel, many of them did receive a regular salary from their host group.
Friends and family rather than the Internet tend to be a source of inspiration.
Although the Internet gets a lot of attention as a recruitment tool, the survey found that most respondents didn’t get the idea to go to Syria by reading it online. While many said that the Internet was important in their decision, they also said that they already wanted to go and simply looked online for more information about the conflict.
READ MORE: ISIS is still trying to recruit Canadians on social media, CSIS warns
One-third of people said that a friend or relative motivated them to go to Syria. This is even more common among would-be fighters in the E.U., according to the survey. Many of the fighters were also very motivated to protect and defend Sunnis in Syria.
Many are disillusioned once they get to Syria.
Most of the people surveyed had no military experience before they got to Syria. And once they got there, most of them only received a short training course on how to shoot – though they couldn’t fire any real bullets without attracting the attention of rival fighters.
They also got some religious training, though many survey respondents said that they were very unimpressed with the calibre of the teachers.
“I began to think about leaving Syria as soon as I arrived,” said one respondent. “I started to think, could the armed group, with its reputation and might, provide a kind of teaching and teachers as simple as that?”
Many disagreed with the group’s strategy or were turned off by evidence of corruption. Others were upset with the lack of welcome that they received from the group or the Syrian people and noted that the armed groups failed to deliver on their promises of salaries, houses, jobs or wives.
READ MORE: German teen who joined Islamic State regrets her decision, wants to go back home
Finally, psychological and physical hardships associated with life in Syria motivated many of the fighters to go back to their home countries. This was especially true among very young people who were quickly sent to the front lines of the conflict.
Comments