A United Nations Report has revealed a disturbing figure pertaining the number of women and children traveling to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State (ISIS). In a report delivered this week to the United Nations Security Council, findings indicate that an alarming 25% of foreigners that joined ISIS are women and children from over 80 countries across the globe.
The report based on findings from a study of ISIS foreigners by the UK-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) further stated that 41,000 international citizens became affiliated with ISIS. Up to 4,761 equated to 13% of these were recorded to be women, and 4,640 equivalent to 12% of these minors. Majority of the women and children are said to have come from Eastern Asia with Europe, Americas, Australia & New Zealand comings second, third and fourth respectively. North and Sub-Saharan Africa also made a significant percentage of women and children in ISIS.
Recently, women and children have posed a major security threat as they are used by terror organizations such as ISIS and Boko Haram to conduct attacks in crowded public as they can blend with the crowd without being detected. Their ability to be inconspicuous makes them a larger threat to the public and as such the high number of women, children including caliphate babies is even a larger security menace than their male counterparts.
ICSR recorded up to 7,366 persons have now returned to their home countries which accounts for 20%, or appear to be in repatriation processes to do so. The large number redistributes the threat through the over 80 countries and as such could export terrorism and radical ideologies back home and create cells that could conduct both lone and coordinated attacks in their home countries. It is important to install stringent counterterrorism measures and monitoring of returnees to avoid the aforementioned scenarios and security threat caused by women and children terrorists.