Fact Sheet “Returnees”

  • The number of Islamists who have left Germany and/or have German citizenship and who have joined terrorist organisations in Iraq and Syria, such as “Islamic State”, is estimated to be around 1050 people according to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, of the 1050 jihadists who left Germany, around 200 of these were women (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, 2019).

 

  • Whilst there are indications that around half of these individuals have had an active part in fighting too, there is no basis for investigative proceedings for some of those who have left the country. It is estimated that around 200 people with German citizenship have been killed in Iraq and Syria (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, 2019).

 

  • In total, there is information about more than 100 people who have been arrested in the region, either by the Kurdish YPG or the SDF in Iraq or in Syria. Of the 60 adults who are registered and have left Germany, 42 have German citizenship. Investigative proceedings are already ongoing in Germany in the case of 32 registered individuals. In 21 cases, arrest warrants have been issued and 19 are classified as individuals who pose a threat to public safety (Mascolo, 2019).

 

  • The work with returnees is therefore not only shaped by whether the case relates to men, women or children, but also the point in time of the return.

 

  • Children, especially young children, are not a target group for deradicalisation work because they are not yet able to consciously absorb ideologies, and behaviours they display are often only imitation. Experiences cannot yet be actively reproduced in small children (Wettig, 2006). Young children are understood to be the largest group of German children still in Syria and Iraq.
Fact Sheet Returnees
Fact Sheet Returnees
Download