We can 'turn' British jihadists if we talk to their families
The conflict in Somalia is one of the most important international crises affecting this country because of the number of British citizens who have travelled to the region as ‘jihadists’ to join Al Shabaab.
The ‘White Widow’, Samantha Lewthwaite, may be the most notorious, but between 50 and 100 young British Muslims are believed to have joined the cause.
Last week I met one father whose son became a jihadist.
Dressed in a smart, dark-blue business suit, this successful professional told a typical story: two years ago, his son, in his 20s, told the family he was visiting friends in the Gulf.
Several months later, the family received a phone call from Somalia telling them their son had joined Al Shabaab.
‘When you get that call, it’s devastating,’ my contact said. ‘You immediately try to contact anyone you know in Somalia who might have information. A few families have headed straight to Mogadishu to try to find their children.’
Soon after joining the group, my contact’s son became disillusioned, as many do.
Often these impressionable young people arrive in Somalia without any understanding of the realities of fighting for Al Shabaab. Some don’t speak the language and have no local connections.
They are usually put into a brigade for foreign recruits – the ‘Muhajiroon’ brigade, which means ‘those who have migrated from abroad’.
Seen as expendable, many – including several Americans and, it is believed, at least one Briton – have been fast-tracked into suicide attacks.
Al Shabaab has even found a way of making ‘reluctant jihadists’ useful. They permit them to return to their families in exchange for tens of thousands of pounds in ransom. That is how my contact got his son back.
Even then, the pain is not over. Travellers to Somalia are often put under surveillance or face months of questioning. So families keep their involvement secret – a missed opportunity for high-quality intelligence from people who have been into the heart of Al Shabaab.
I know of many Somali families who hide the passports of their young men. And many disillusioned recruits remain in limbo, marooned in Somalia or neighbouring countries, unable to come back to the UK.
My contact says: ‘My advice to the British Government is to open a dialogue with these families. There will be some who haven’t got all that [jihadist] stuff out of their heads completely.
'But I believe most of them have. They want to change, they realise their mistakes and some are even willing to take punishment for it.’
He believes that if these young men can prove to the UK and Somali governments that they were not involved in any violent acts, they should be allowed to return – a policy that could both make our country safer and provide a pathway out of extremism.