Countries in central Asia struggle to reintegrate Islamic State returnees

A 28-year-old Kyrgyz, Gulmira ran away from her home in Syria four years ago to escape her Islamic State (IS) fighter husband and the horrors of living under the extremist group.

Gulmira, whose name was changed to protect her privacy, initially left Kyrgyzstan for Turkey to find work, but later moved to IS-held parts of Syria and then got married there.

The woman — who also has a son born in Syria six years ago — is tight-lipped about why she decided to join IS, merely saying she was “deceived.”

Gulmira now wants to rebuild her life in Kyrgyzstan but claims she doesn’t get much support and has been “under constant stress” since her return.

“Officers from the State Committee for National Security often come unannounced to search my home,” Gulmira told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service.

“They couldn’t find anything illegal and just took away my mobile phone and clothes,” she added. “They say bad things about me to my neighbors. I wish at least I could get some psychological support.”

The Kyrgyz security committee didn’t respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.

But authorities in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries have acknowledged they found themselves in uncharted territory when thousands of their citizens — family members of IS fighters — came back home from Syria and Iraq in recent years.

Since 2019, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan have repatriated more than 1,000 women and children stranded in Syria and Iraq.

Hundreds more returned privately, long before the defeat of the extremist group in Syria in 2019.

Authorities in the predominantly Muslim region have since been working to rehabilitate and reintegrate their citizens who have been exposed to such things as IS atrocities, air strikes, poverty, and hunger.

Some were deeply indoctrinated by the IS’s extremist ideology.

Many professionals, including doctors, teachers, psychologists, and religious figures have been recruited to help the returnees transition to “normal life.”

There are many success stories, according to the governments.

One Kazakh woman attended several conferences at home and abroad, telling the world about how she and her five young children were given a “second chance” after Kazakhstan brought them home from a Syrian refugee camp in 2019.

The widow of a Kazakh IS fighter, Sabinella Ayazbaeva has since been busy with her “new chapter in life.” She got a part-time job at a local trade center in her native city of Qaraghandy and enrolled in psychology courses at a university. Her children all attend school.

In Tajikistan, some returnees took part in government-sponsored meetings with young people to warn them against the dangers of joining extremist groups.

But it hasn’t been smooth sailing for all, especially with some school-age children, according to experts, officials, and families involved.

Saule Mukanova, a children’s psychologist who worked at a IS rehabilitation center in Kazakhstan, told RFE/RL that many older children initially “behaved aggressively,” calling their teachers infidels and even throwing stones at them.

Mukanova recalls that some of the children would even self-harm themselves to express their anger and frustration. It took time until the children got used to their new surroundings, began to trust people, and learned to enjoy playing, watching television, and just having fun.

In Tajikistan, one grandmother told RFE/RL that her preteen grandson has been living in a closed, state-run boarding school since he was repatriated from Iraq in 2019 along with some 90 other children.

The boy’s father died in an air strike in Mosul and his mother was imprisoned in Iraq for having links with IS.

According to the woman, the boy has been reluctant to meet his relatives visiting him at the boarding school. The grandmother said the child seemed to be brainwashed by IS ideology and that he idolized his militant father.

The child is making progress, the grandmother said, adding that she hopes he will fully grow out of the radical mindset.

Earlier this year, Tajik authorities said that 84 children — repatriated from Iraq — live and study in several specialized boarding schools. They have little contact with the outside world and their relatives are only allowed occasional visits.

The government hasn’t said when the children will be released to live with their grandparents or other relatives who were appointed as guardians by authorities.

Source: RFERL