The security threat from returning foreign fighters: A human rights challenge of our own making

The inconsistent and varied treatment of what have become known as ‘returning foreign fighters’ following the collapse of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq is a cause for concern. Countries have developed their own strategies in terms of whether or not to accept these individuals back into their home countries, with a range of mechanisms in place such as removing citizenship from individuals and preventing them from returning to their home countries. The treatment of individuals who joined the Islamic State, however, is also inconsistent and murky. Men, women and children with a range of physical and psychological trauma are now situation in camps across the Middle East and their home countries seem to be at a loss on how to deal with them. With a variety of other challenges such as the War in Ukraine and the Cost of Living crisis, these country-less individuals have fallen through the gaps of media attention, and have been left without appropriate attention to human rights. As a result, the world is at risk of facilitating a new generation of radicalised individuals. This paper seeks to explore the treatment of those who travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State upon their attempts to return. What is the different approach to men versus women and children? Why can these individuals not return to their home countries to be prosecuted appropriately within their own criminal justice systems? And does the deprivation of citizenship undermine the human rights of these individuals? This paper proposes that the consequences of ignoring these people may have far more harmful impacts on society globally and seeks to understand the balance of human rights and security which countries need to engage in.