European governments are being warned of the “urgent” need to adopt a uniform plan for the repatriation of ISIS fighters as thousands are set to return and be released from prisons.
Two reports focusing on the threat posed by extremists in Europe have been released just days after a UK court ruled in favour of former ISIS member Shamima Begum.
Ms Begum won her bid to return to the country to appeal against a 2019 government order which stripped of her citizenship.
A report by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalism is urgently calling on governments to collaborate and warns of the need for rehabilitation with probation officers to begin while extremists are still in prison rather than after they are released.
It says if Western ISIS Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) were to imminently return, prisons across Europe would be “overwhelmed”.
Thousands of fighters already serving sentences are shortly due to be released.
Peter Neuman, the report’s author, said a large number of FTFs have been convicted of lesser charges in a bid to get them into custody. As a result, many are only serving short sentences.
“Our report is very urgent because within the next two to three years some countries will have a significant number of people in prison being released back into society and that is something to prepare for,” he said.
“Rehabilitation is really important in view of how many people will be released. There needs to be linking up between prison and probation, this is urgent. [There needs to be] an integrated programme so probation is involved long before someone is released. It will need resources and money but it is important.
“It would be great if across Europe we could improve channels of information. There needs to be a more coordinated and systematic exchange of information.”
The report outlines the needs for expertise and training of staff, the sharing of information between prison and probation services and other relevant government departments and an evaluation of the risk assessment tools they use.
Mr Neuman has warned that some countries will be ill-equipped to receive returning FTFs, especially women.
“I think most prison systems will be probably be overwhelmed if all ISIS FTFs returned at once,” he explained.
“Amongst the FTFs there are significant numbers of women, we have been saying for some time that the prison systems need to get prepared for that.”
His concerns have been echoed in a report, released on Wednesday, by the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate.
It says European governments need to be aware of the “great risks” posed by returning female ISIS recruits and “urgently” need to examine their policies for their prosecution and rehabilitation.
The UN report raises questions over the issues of “fair treatment” concerning the policies of some nations to strip people of their citizenship in their absence.
Ms Begum had left the UK as a 15-year-old schoolgirl to join ISIS and was stripped of her British citizenship in her absence. Last week the UK’s top court ruled she should be allowed to return to challenge the government’s decision.
Only nine per cent of Western female ISIS recruits have returned home and the UN says nations need to create gender-sensitive programmes tailored to women or warns there is a great risk they will reoffend.
“[Our analysis brief] identifies an urgent need to develop more gender-sensitive criminal justice responses, as well as alternative approaches to rehabilitation and reintegration outside the criminal justice system,” the UN has said.
“Given that overall relatively few women returnees have been prosecuted, their access to rehabilitation and reintegration programmes has consequently been limited. This poses the risk of not attending to returnees’ needs for assistance, undermining women’s successful reintegration into society and putting them at potentially greater risk of recidivism.”
A number of fighters have had their citizenship revoked amid a continuing dispute between countries over how best to handle the ISIS activists still alive after defeat on the battlefield.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
Company%20profile
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SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206-cylinder%203-litre%2C%20with%20petrol%20and%20diesel%20variants%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20286hp%20(petrol)%2C%20249hp%20(diesel)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E450Nm%20(petrol)%2C%20550Nm%20(diesel)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EStarting%20at%20%2469%2C800%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
MATCH INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
UAE v Oman - abandoned
Oman v Namibia - abandoned
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
if you go
The flights
Fly to Rome with Etihad (www.etihad.ae) or Emirates (www.emirates.com) from Dh2,480 return including taxes. The flight takes six hours. Fly from Rome to Trapani with Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) from Dh420 return including taxes. The flight takes one hour 10 minutes.
The hotels
The author recommends the following hotels for this itinerary. In Trapani, Ai Lumi (www.ailumi.it); in Marsala, Viacolvento (www.viacolventomarsala.it); and in Marsala Del Vallo, the Meliaresort Dimore Storiche (www.meliaresort.it).
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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more from Janine di Giovanni
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BLACKBERRY
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Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
Schedule:
Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
EVIL%20DEAD%20RISE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELee%20Cronin%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlyssa%20Sutherland%2C%20Morgan%20Davies%2C%20Lily%20Sullivan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
