ISIS Using Child Recruits to Pose as Refugees Entering Europe, UK-Think Tank

ISIS Using Child Recruits to Pose as Refugees Entering Europe, UK-Think Tank

Right after the Paris attacks of November 2015 that killed 128 people, President Obama scoffed at Republicans for being “scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America.”

But just because those “clinging to their guns and religion”  — to use another of Obama’s expression– might be skeptical of mass-migration from Muslim dominated countries, doesn’t mean Islamic terrorism isn’t out to get them. According to a recent report published by a UK-based counter-extremism think tank, Islamist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram are using child recruits to infiltrate the refugee wave currently overwhelming Europe. ISIS was paying smugglers to bring child recruits across to Europe and offering up to $2,000 for each child recruited inside the refugees camps in Lebanon and Jordan, says the report issued by Quilliam International.

In their Jihad against the West, Islamist group all across the board have recognised the potential of the migrant and refugee coming into Europe from Arab and Muslim countries:

Examining the online material from Isis, the Taliban, al-Qaida, al-Shabaab in Somalia and Boko Haram in Nigeria, researchers found the four Islamist groups mentioned refugees every day between 13 June 2016 and 8 January 2017, with the most dominant theme – 53% of all references – relating to calls from fighters and believers urging refugees to wage jihad. [Quilliam International’s report; as summarised by UK’s Guardian newspaper]

The report describes the wide appeal of the Jihadi propaganda on new arrivals as well as on large Muslim communities already established in Europe:

Groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram recruit using financial incentives within refugee camps and work with smugglers and traffickers to facilitate the journey to asylum.

In addition to making use of young men and women in countries where it holds territory, IS has become successful in reaching out to them in Europe and recruiting them. However, IS and JN’s [Jabhat al-Nusra: Al Qaeda-linked Syrian terrorist group] pool of recruitment from the UK has been not only from among the Iraqi or Syrian diaspora community, but includes both Muslims and converts to Islam and from a plethora of multiple ethnicities and national backgrounds.

These findings also points to the long-term risks posed by the ongoing migrant influx and argues that Europe might end up grappling with the fallout from these demographic changes over decades to come:

There is no question that militant groups target refugee youth (defined as between 15 and 24 years old) for recruitment, however, it has been argued that refugee youth can also become autonomously radicalised. (…)  If the vulnerabilities of young refugees arriving at their destination are not countered by long-term approach to integration, democratisation of national identities, and prioritisation of wellbeing and mental health of young people, the risk of radicalisation is likely to persist into future generations.

All these new revelations and constant flow on intelligence on the worldwide campaign of Jihad are wasted on European political elites who refuse to take even the most basic steps such as securing their out borders or vetting those who seek asylum. Europe’s inability to stop the migrant influx does not stem from its logistical restrains but out of its political decision not to secure its outer boarders. This explains the hysteria raked up by European elites over President Donald Trump’s move to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in midst of her re-election bid, has reiterated her commitment to open borders policy – saying this week that there will be no upper-limit to migrant intake if she wins the September elections.

As Jihadi groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda and Boko Haram learn to weaponise Europe’s refugee crisis as well as its changing demography, leaders like Chancellor Merkel have decided to placed their liberal orthodoxy above the safety and wellbeing of their citizenry.

Video: German Chancellor Merkel agrees to fly in additional 500 refugees from Turkey each month (February 2016)

[Cover image courtesy CNN, Youtube]

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