Against the backdrop of a deteriorating security situation in Northeast Syria, new analysis from the Counter Extremism Project examines whether Germany’s rehabilitation framework is equipped to manage the long-term domestic risks posed by former Islamic State members.

(Berlin, Germany) – As hundreds of former Islamic State members are completing their prison sentences and probation periods, Germany is entering a decisive phase in its efforts to prevent extremist reoffending. At the same time, worrying reports of Kurdish forces losing control over several prisons with alleged Islamic State members in Northeast Syria, prison breaks and detained foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) being transferred to Iraq make the question of how countries of origin can deal effectively with returning FTFs and their families ever more pressing. 

Against this backdrop, new analysis from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) points to “cautious optimism” about Germany’s ability to manage these long-term domestic risks, assessing the country’s approach to rehabilitation and the prevention of extremist reoffending among former Islamic State members.

Indeed, the profiles and experiences of Islamic State returnees pose significant challenges for those involved in their rehabilitation: How do you rehabilitate individuals who left their lives and families behind to join a terrorist organization, often having undergone military training and participated in combat, and in some cases committed extremely brutal crimes—yet may also be traumatized by their time in a war zone and in refugee camps?

Key points in From Caliphate to Prison. Germany’s Approach to Rehabilitating Islamic State Returnees include:

• More than 40 percent of the individuals who originally traveled to Iraq and Syria have returned to Germany, leading to an increase in the number of convicted offenders linked to Islamist terrorism and thus to comprehensive adjustments, including new conceptual and regulatory frameworks for addressing extremism, continued training of specialists, and greater cooperation with exit-counseling organizations.
• Actors involved in rehabilitation and reintegration face particular challenges due to the profiles and experiences of returnees from Syria and Iraq, including military training and participation in combat, psychological and physical stress, and the simultaneous return of children socialized under ISIS ideology.
• The main challenges in dealing with returnees include assessing security risks; false compliance; difficulties in coming to terms with their crimes; mental health issues; contact with returnees’ children; transition management; and, after release from prison, the coordination of numerous governmental and civil society actors, mutual mistrust, and stigmatization.
• Although only isolated cases of recidivism have been reported, interviewees emphasized that the long-term success of social reintegration after release from prison could only be assessed over time and that experience remains limited, especially regarding female returnees.
• While concepts and approaches to rehabilitating offenders do not differentiate between men and women, there are important gender-related differences, including inexperience in assessing and dealing with the risks posed by female returnees, trauma processing, and organizing contact with children during and after imprisonment.

From Caliphate to Prison. Germany’s Approach to Rehabilitating Islamic State Returnees is authored by Sofia Koller, CEP Senior Research Analyst. It is an updated and translated version of a study originally published in German by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in July 2024. The report outlines Germany’s approach to violent extremist offenders, describes experiences with returnees during and after incarceration, and provides a series of policy recommendations. 

Sofia Koller, author of the report, says: 

“The German prevention landscape has, without a doubt, evolved considerably in the past ten years and managed to develop several adequate responses to the challenges posed by Islamic State returnees. However, while those I interviewed seem overall ‘cautiously optimistic’, only the years to come will show to what extent those returning from Syria and Iraq are actually able to rehabilitate and reintegrate into our society.”

To read the full report, click here.