TerrorismFormer Jihadists effective in dissuading would-be IS recruits from joining the group: Experts

Last week British prime minister David Cameron announced new powers, allowing police to seize the passports of terrorist suspects to stop them from returning to the United Kingdom. London mayor Boris Johnson also called for British Jihadists to have their citizenship revoked.

 Richard Barrett, former counter-terrorism chief at MI5 and MI6, disagrees. He is advocating a passage of return for repentant fighters, saying they need “to know that there is a place for them back at home.”

More than 500 British citizens are believed to have traveled to the Middle East since 2011 to join the Islamic State (IS). Counterterrorism analysts say that dozens of repentant Jihadists are looking for ways to return home, but fear of imprisonment is keeping them in Syria or Iraq. Barrett believes that these former Jihadists may be the key to dissuade would-be Islamic State recruits from joining the terror group.

“Many of the people who have been most successful in undermining the terrorist narrative are themselves ex-extremists,” said Barrett, adding that such people can “explain why going abroad to fight is a very bad idea.” Former IS members can expose the reality of IS, its leadership, the stories of brutality, and motives behind its violent actions, making them far more credible than government counterterrorism officials. Additionally, “these repentant fighters need a way out, and although the law must take its course, they need to know there is a place for them back at home if they are committed to a non-violent future,” Barrett said.

According to the Guardian, researchers at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London have recently been contacted by Jihadists who want to enroll in the center’s de-radicalization program. “These ex-fighters could help the authorities to understand better than they do now why people are still going to Syria and Iraq and what needs to be done to slow the flow to a trickle or stop it altogether,” said Barrett. British officials including former Home Office minister Hazel Blears, agree, saying that if former Jihadists can prove that they are genuinely remorseful and prepared to join a de-radicalization program, then they might be useful in deterring vulnerable young people from joining terror groups.

“It’s a very powerful narrative,” she said.