The French newspaper Le Figaro recently published the results of a study released by the World Bank entitled Economy and Social Justice to Prevent Violent Extremism, involving critical indicators and statistics for professionals and stakeholders in all countries, interested in combating the phenomenon of terrorism.
Among the indicators that draw attention in this study, is that foreigners who join the ranks of the organization of the Islamic State have educational levels that exceed the expectations of researchers and experts, according to the data that leaked from within the organization itself. According to this study, the organization Daesh does not bring foreign fighters among the poor and the marginalized, but rather the opposite.
Based on the leaked data about 3,800 foreign terrorists who entered the ranks of the organization Daesh during 2013 and 2014, the study suggests, based on documented information about the country of residence, education level and previous experience in jihad work and knowledge of Sharia, that most of these elements reached the secondary stage of education and a large part of them pursued university studies.
The percentage of those who attained the high school stage among the elements of the organization of foreigners was about 43.3 percent, and the percentage of those who have completed their university studies was about 24.5 percent, while the percentage of those whose education was limited to elementary school was about 13.5 percent.
Most importantly foreigners who have entered the ranks of the organization Daesh are coming from African countries and the Middle East and Southeast Asia. They are the most educated compared to their counterparts from other countries. This means that the organization has succeeded in usurping the minds of a considerable number of young educated people, and this is a very important indicator because their average age, according to the study, is about 27 years. This means that this educated class has far exceeded adolescence, and voluntarily chose to join the organization ranked on the list of international terrorist organizations, and even many of them left their job in their state, as the study said, and were not desperate because of unemployment or poverty, as most experts believe.
The study also dealt with remarkable reasons for joining Daesh presented by these foreigners themselves within their personal data documented with the organization, including the pursuit of death (martyrdom), while others desired to be involved in ‘jihad’, and a third team spoke of helping the organization administratively. The study indicated that the most educated foreigners in Daesh tend to carry out suicide operations or managerial responsibilities.
These appear to be two contradictory desires, according to the explanation for this unique relationship between the educational level and the desired tasks and roles stated by the terrorist element. But, in any case, this is a logical indicator in the interpretation of the thinking pattern of this age group among the members of the organization. They either tend to think carefully and quietly and want to get involved in the organization while avoiding the increased hazard with battlefields and other field tasks, or they decided to pursue suicide missions believing them to be the way to achieve the degree of “martyrdom”, and these are the most extreme and the ones who tend the most to intellectual militancy among the members of the organization. It is difficult to say they have been deceived or “mislead” because as already mentioned, they have a high level of education and their age levels make it difficult for them to be misled.
Some aspects of these indicators may seem new, as most of the studies that discuss violent extremism in the Arab and Islamic countries focus specifically on the impact of specific elements, such as poverty, ignorance and unemployment. But this study points to the importance of quality elements such as social, economic and religious inclusion, which means that there are deficiencies in policies and plans, because they leave the door open for terrorist organizations to attract young people intellectually and ideologically and to convince them to leave their jobs and sacrifice their future for carrying out “suicide missions”.
