Between imprisonment and return – political options for dealing with imprisoned IS militants from Germany
There are currently around 40 men with German citizenship or close ties to Germany in detention in north-eastern Syria. These so-called Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) are part of a Kurdish-run detention system that holds a total of around 9,000 former members of Islamic State (IS). The detainees are denied access to due process, legal assistance and basic humanitarian care.
Given the unstable security situation in Syria, the future of this detention system is uncertain. Continued detention under unlawful conditions not only poses a human rights challenge, but also carries security risks. Extremist circles are exploiting the situation to spread martyr narratives that can promote radicalisation, particularly among young people – a mechanism that has already played a central role in previous radicalisation processes.