Foreign Fighters

TOPSHOT - Ukrainian soldier walks along a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists, not far from town of Avdiivka, Donetsk region, on December 10, 2021. (Photo by Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP) (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)

American Fighters, Ukraine, and the Neutrality Act: The Law and the Urgent Need for Clarity

Americans contemplating joining the war in Ukraine could face criminal prosecution in U.S. courts under the Neutrality Act.

Mar. 15, 2022 Dakota S. Rudesill

Supporters of the "Coalition of Northern Groups" (CNG) rally to urge authorities to rescue hundreds of abducted schoolboys, in northwestern state of Katsina, Nigeria on December 17, 2020. One sign reads, “End Boko Haram” and another reads, “Insecurity in the North in Bad Condition Appalling Failure…”

The Politics of Repatriation and Power of Community Reintegration in Peacebuilding

Communities victimized by conflict may be remarkably receptive to the return of former fighters.

Aug. 31, 2021 Siobhan O’Neil and Zoe Marks

Members of the Islamic State (IS) group stand across from their weapons lying on a table, following they surrender to Afghanistan's government in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar Province.

India and the Foreign Fighters Conundrum

India has left many of its nationals who fought with terrorist groups languishing in prison abroad. But it has legal options - and obligations - to bring these nationals home.…

Aug. 3, 2021 Aakash Chandran

Children walk out of a building during the handover of orphaned children, whose parents were suspected of belonging to the Islamic State group to a Russian delegation by Syrian Kurdish officials, at the headquarters of the department for foreign affairs of the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on April 18, 2021.

Foreign ISIS Suspects, Families: Why a Single “R” Word Matters at the UN

Whether governments should repatriate ISIS suspects and family members is under heated debate at the United Nations as it renews its Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS).

Jun. 17, 2021 Letta Tayler and Alison Huyghe

A crowded prison cell in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on October 26, 2019. Men accused of being affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group sit and lay on the floor close together. There does not appear to be an empty floor space.

A Tribunal for ISIS Fighters – A National Security and Human Rights Emergency

There is an immediate need to triage a coordinated response to the ongoing detention of roughly 10,000 ISIS fighters and 60,000 women and children in northeast Syria.

Mar. 30, 2021 Roger Lu Phillips

Members of a displaced family sit outside a UNHCR tent in the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp in the al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria on August 25, 2020, where families of Islamic State (IS) foreign fighters are held.

Repatriating ISIS Family Members: A North Macedonia Model?

One of the smallest members of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS has adopted a comprehensive plan to bring home its citizens from squalid camps in Syria.

Sep. 14, 2020 Eric Rosand, Heidi Ellis and 1 more

A woman carries jerry cans to fill them up with water at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp for the displaced where families of Islamic State (IS) foreign fighters are held, in the al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria on December 9, 2019.

Despite US Veto, Desperate ISIS Suspects and Families Remain at Risk

There is good news and bad news from the recent UN Security Council vote on a dangerously flawed draft resolution on so-called “foreign terrorist fighters."

Sep. 4, 2020 Letta Tayler

A woman wearing a niqab (full face veil) walks carrying an infant at al-Hol camp for displaced people in al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria on July 22, 2019, as people collect UN-provided humanitarian aid packages.

The Challenges of a New UN Security Council Resolution on Foreign Fighters

The United Nations Security Council is actively negotiating a new Chapter VII resolution directed at the regulation of so-called “foreign terrorist fighters” this month. The…

Aug. 17, 2020 Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Renu Begum, eldest sister of Shamima Begum, 15, holds her sister's photo as she is interviewed by the media at New Scotland Yard, as the relatives of three missing schoolgirls believed to have fled to Syria to join Islamic State have pleaded for them to return home, on February 22, 2015 in London, England.

The Shamima Begum Decision: What Could It Mean for Other ISIS Women and Children Unable to Repatriate?

The attention Shamima Begum's most recent success before the Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom received might signify the small glimmer of hope the ruling appears to create…

Aug. 3, 2020 Gretta Schumacher

A fighter with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) monitors on surveillance screens, crowded prison cells filled with people accused of being affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group, at a prison in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on October 26, 2019.

Repatriating Foreign Fighters from Syria: International Law and Political Will (Part 2)

The detention conundrum: States rely on non-state groups for counterterrorism operations, but they are simultaneously reluctant to accept the return of terrorists captured and…

Mar. 20, 2020 Dan E. Stigall

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) looks through a door window to a crowded cell where men suspected to be affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group are jailed in northeast Syria in the city of Hasakeh on October 26, 2019.

Repatriating Foreign Fighters from Syria: International Law and Political Will (Part 1)

Does international law require States to repatriate their foreign fighters?

Mar. 18, 2020 Dan E. Stigall

French jihadist Djamila Boutoutaou attends her trial at the Central penal Court in Baghdad, on April 17, 2018.

UN Report Should Pressure Countries to Repatriate Foreign Fighters

A new UN report raises serious doubts about the respect of fundamental rights for those accused of being members of the Islamic State and facing trial in the Iraqi court system.…

Feb. 6, 2020 Margherita Stevoli