Description
With numerous foreign fighters (FFs) still detained in makeshift prison facilities in Syria and Iraq, European governments continue to prevaricate over whether to repatriate and prosecute FFs domestically or leave them to face justice elsewhere. Responding to a relative dearth of understanding and lack of in-depth academic interviews with European FFs on the causes of radicalisation, this article responds to the twin questions: ‘What are the underlying causes of radicalisation amongst European foreign fighters engaged in transnational Islamist violence abroad? And what implications, if any, does the nature of their radicalisation have for the manner in which they should be prosecuted?
This research project will adopt a mixed methods approach to understanding the sources of radicalisation. First, it will conduct quantitative analysis of relevant data sets relating to both foreign fighters who have engaged in transnational Islamism, those who have returned to Europe, and those prosecuted domestically in universal jurisdiction cases. Second, it will design and distribute questionnaires to returnee FFs to gain a preliminary understanding of the sources of radicalisation as well as to identify potential participants for subsequent in-depth interviews. Third, once a suitable sample has been identified through analysis of the questionnaire responses, selection of returnee FF participants for in-depth interviews will take place. Based on these findings, the article will analyse the particular sources of radicalisation of European foreign fighters who have travelled abroad to engage in transnational Islamist violence and, in turn, assess the implications of these findings for European policy on repatriation and prosecution.
