The return of foreign fighters to EU soil: Ex-post evaluation
Since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, thousands of EU nationals have travelled or attempted to travel in conflict zones in Iraq and Syria to join insurgent terrorist groups, such as ISIL/Da'esh ('Islamic State'). Of those, it has been estimated that around 30 % have already returned to their home countries. The issue of foreign fighters has been high on the political agenda at both Member State and EU level for the last five years and touches upon a wide range of policies: policies related to the prevention of radicalisation; to information exchange at EU level; to criminal justice responses to returnees; to disengagement/deradicalisation inside and outside prisons. This study aims at outlining the EU response to the issue of returning foreign fighters and their families. It furthermore examines how six Member States have responded to this phenomenon so far (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK). These Member States are confronted with significant challenges in dealing with foreign fighters that combine legal, ethical and practical questions regarding their obligations and capabilities as regards the handling of the foreign fighters still abroad and the returnees already on EU soil. Meanwhile, Member States' existing programmes aiming at tackling radicalisation are difficult to evaluate, leading to uncertainties as regards the efficiency of current practices.
Study
External author
The external study was written by Dr Francesco Ragazzi (Assistant Professor at Leiden University, the Netherlands) and Josh Walmsley (Independent Researcher) at the request of the Ex-Post Evaluation Unit of the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, within the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) of the Secretariat of the European Parliament.
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- CEPOL
- child
- children's rights
- criminal law
- criminal liability
- demography and population
- detention before trial
- economic geography
- EU institutions and European civil service
- EU Member State
- Eurojust
- European construction
- European security
- EUROPEAN UNION
- Europol
- external border of the EU
- extremism
- Frontex
- GEOGRAPHY
- imprisonment
- international conflict
- international law
- INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- international security
- justice
- LAW
- POLITICS
- politics and public safety
- rights and freedoms
- social affairs
- SOCIAL QUESTIONS
- terrorism