Russian Caliphate children: what awaits them after IS?

Russian Caliphate children: what awaits them after IS?

The terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS, earlier ISIL) (banned in Russia by the court), which managed to capture significant territories of Iraq and Syria in 2014-2016, since its appearance, had actively attracted militants from many countries, including Russia. In its heyday, the strength of the grouping exceeded 30,000 fighters 1, two-thirds of them being foreigners. Among militants from Russia, who went to fight for the IS*, many were from Northern Caucasus. They often took their families with them, not intending ever to come back. The main inflow of women and children to the territories controlled by the IS* was in 2015.

According to various estimates, hundreds or even thousands children from Dagestan, Chechnya and other regions of the Caucasus may still be in Iraq and Syria. Their life and health are in particular danger, after the ISIL* began suffering large-scale defeats in the summer of 2017. The issue of returning the children of perished militants from the warfare area is now very topical.

The "Caucasian Knot" tells why it is not easy to return militants' children to Russia, who is engaged in the process, and how many children they have already managed to return.

Why is it difficult to return children to Russia?

One of the obstacles is the absence on them of any documents confirming their Russian citizenship. Particularly this problem concerns Iraq, because in order to take children from there, a court judgement is needed, proving that the child is a citizen of Russia. In Syria, this issue is easier to solve, since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has allowed taking Russian citizens away without a court judgement 4.
Another problem is that mothers returning to Russia with their children often face a risk of criminal prosecution for participating in illegal armed formations (IAFs) in the territory of a foreign state.

For example, three women from Dagestan, who were brought to Grozny by a special flight in a group of rescued women and children from Syria, were almost immediately detained by law enforcers. As it turned out, the women had been on the wanted list 5.

Who deals with the return?

A hotline was launched to collect information about Russian children in Iraq and Syria: +7 (495) 221-70-65.

The Chechen government and the clergy of Chechnya are actively engaged in the return of militants' children, especially the plenipotentiary of the head of Chechnya in Middle East and North Africa, Senator Ziyad Sabsabi, who personally met the Iraqi and Syrian authorities. All the related expenses are born by the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation 6.

On August 13, 2017, more than 50 women marched in Grozny, urging the Chechen leadership to help in returning children from the territories of Iraq and Syria.

Apart from the Chechen government, Anna Kuznetsova, the Russian Children's Ombudsperson, is also involved in returning children; in August this year, she reported that a database had been gathered with hundreds of family names and contact details of children in Syria and Iraq, who might need help.

"There, of course, the entire territory of the Russian Federation is present... The overwhelming majority refers to residents of Chechnya and Dagestan. Today, the Dagestani list contains more than 200 people... According to unofficial data, there are many more of them there," Ms Kuznetsova said in August after a sitting on the problem of returning children 7.

Also, the parties to the negotiation process are the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the federal commission for the return of children from warfare areas, representatives of Dagestan, and Ambassadors of Syria and Iraq. Besides, members of the Chechen Diaspora in Jordan, who work in cooperation with the Red Crescent Society, are helping to return Chechen children from Iraq 8.

How many children have returned and how many still remain there?

Bilal Taghirov whose father took him to Syria. Photo: screenshot of a video posted on Ramzan Kadyrov’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/BXS2Y-qn0jJ/
By mid-September, it became known that at least 445 minor Russians remained in the warfare areas in Syria and Iraq; over a hundred of them are under the age of three 9.

In October-November, 43 children were returned to Russia from Syria 10 They are brought in small groups. Hundreds of Russian children still, perhaps, remain in the warfare areas.

The "Caucasian Knot" has collected detailed information about the militants from the Caucasus, fighting in Syria and Iraq for jihadists, in its analytical material "Caucasians in the ranks of IS*". It tells about how many people from the Caucasus had left for the IS*; how they got there, and what expected those, who tried to return. Also, the material presents stories about well-known Caucasian commanders in the IS*, and how ISIL* cells operate in the Caucasus as such. Besides, little-known information about the ISIL*, narrated by a witness, who had been in the ranks of the IS*, and got disappointed, can be learned from the interview "Travel to the Islamic State* and back".

Fresh materials about the influence of the war in the Middle East on the situation in the regions of the Caucasus are published by the "Caucasian Knot" on its topical page "Caucasus held at gunpoint by Caliphate".

Notes:

1. ISIS can 'muster' between 20,000 and 31,000 fighters, CIA says // CNN, 12/09/2014.

2. ISIS By The Numbers: Foreign Fighter Total Keeps Growing // NBC News, 02/28/2015.

3. BEYOND THE CALIPHATE: Foreign Fighters and the Threat of Returnees. The Soufan Center. October 2017. P. 5.

4. Seven women and 14 children brought to Grozny by special flight from Syria // TASS, October 21, 2017.

5. Member of HRC under head of Chechnya: three women brought by special flight from Syria detained in Dagestan // TASS, November 14, 2017.

6. Eight children and four women brought to Grozny from Iraq and Syria // TASS, September 1, 2017.

7. Kuznetsova told from what Russian regions children are brought to Syria and Iraq // RIA "Novosti", August 15, 2017.

8. Chechen girl found in Iraq identified // "Caucasian Knot", 02.08.2017.

9. Russia launches hot line for children's return from Iraq and Syria // NTV, 18.10.2017.

10. Forty-three Russian children returned from Syria within six weeks // TASS, November 17, 2017.

Islamic State's Child Soldiers 'the Caliphate Cubs' : First Come the Sweets, Then the Beheadings.

Islamic State's Child Soldiers 'the Caliphate Cubs' : First Come the Sweets, Then the Beheadings. (Spiegel).

The Islamic State is holding thousands of young boys captive in Syria and Iraq, where it is teaching them the Koran and how to become deadly child soldiers. 

In a tent in a refugee camp in Dohuk, at the base of ochre-colored mountains, Amir and Ahmed, 15 and 16, unroll their mats on the floor to forget the terrible memories. It's a cool autumn evening, and they prop themselves up with cushions and turn on the TV. The two brothers fled from their captivity at the hands of the Islamic State (IS) six months ago. Now all they want to do is watch some cartoons.

The brothers flip through the channels. IS also has its own propaganda station, which viewers can easily receive here, in Kurdish northern Iraq. Ahmed, holding the remote control in his hand, suddenly calls out: "There we are Amir! That's us!" The brothers recognize themselves on the screen: dressed in black outfits, their faces masked, with other child soldiers during combat training in Mosul.


It is now spring, and that evening spent in front of the television is a few months in the past. Ahmed and Amir, sitting close together, talk about it in the same small tent in the camp. Ahmed, the older of the two, speaks in a hoarse voice about their time with IS, while Amir stares at the floor. "They gave us drugs, and we believed everything after that," they say. 

Ahmed and Amir were held hostage by IS for nine months, imprisoned in a military camp in Mosul, the IS stronghold in Iraq. There the terrorist organization used beatings and weapons to train them to become child soldiers, or "lion cubs of the caliphate," as IS puts it. The "lion cubs" blow themselves up to kill supposed infidels. They witness beheadings, to learn how they are done. They donate blood for injured adult fighters. And they turn in traitors.

It is difficult to determine how many child soldiers Islamic State is training. Experts estimate that about 1,500 boys are serving the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria. Some are born to the militants. In fact, more than 31,000 women are currently pregnant in IS-held territory. Other children arrive with their parents from abroad when the parents join the jihadist movement. In many cases, the "lion cubs" are also children of local fighters or orphans who join IS voluntarily. Others, like Ahmed and Amir, are kidnapped. Read the full story here.

Islamic Balkans Failing to Counter ISIS’s Appeal to Women.

Islamic Balkans Failing to Counter ISIS’s Appeal to Women. (Balkan insight)

Belgrade think tank says Balkan states must understand the reality of Islamic State’s appeal to Muslim women - if they want to stem to outflow of women there.

Women from the Western Balkans and elsewhere are as attracted to the Islamic State as much as men, a paper published by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy think tank, says.

The presence of women in the Islamic State is dangerous—although women currently do not participate in violent jihad, they are responsible for raising the next generation of jihadists, for performing professional functions while the men engage in violent jihad, and for the recruitment of more individuals to populate the caliphate.

Women who migrate tend to feel marginalized in the societies where they live, and also may have psychological problems, which will only be exacerbated by their experiences in the Islamic State.

While violent extremist groups are often thought to be the domain of men, the numbers of wom en migrating to Syria and Iraq from the Western Balkans and around the world are proving otherwise.

As numbers of foreign fighters traveling from the Western Balkans to Islamic State-held territory
continue to increase, there is a corresponding problem of women from the Western Balkans being recruited to join the Islamic State.

Current evidence shows that there are visible numbers of women who have already migrated — in particular, from Bosnia-Herzegovina (36), Kosovo (42), and Albania (13-29). Estimates show that around 10-15% of total Islamic State recruits are women.

There is no single profile of the typical female recruit, however two distinct groups are evident:

1.) young women (as young as 15) who travel to ISIS territory to marry a jihadist and 

2.) women who are already married and travel with their husband. For young women still living with their parents, evidence from the Western Balkans and elsewhere shows that parents had little to no prior indication that their daughters were being radicalized or had the intention of departing for Islamic State-held territory.

The paper notes that “the women who migrate have taken on a variety of roles, and although they are predominantly expected to keep to the domestic sphere, their participation is still critical for developing the Islamic State‘s ‘Caliphate’ into what they believe will be a Muslim utopia”.

They also help expand the Islamic State‘s network by recruiting other women. Women are barred from taking up combat, and while they do not pose a security threat to European countries at present, they could be trained to become suicide bombers or fighters in future, the paper say.
Read the full story here.