TORONTO â” There was no time to waste when three young women went missing last July. The teens had already left Toronto for Cairo, where they would be catching a connecting flight to Istanbul. Their parents feared they were headed for Syria.
The RCMP national security officer assigned to the case worked on it through the night. He reached the RCMP liaison officer in Cairo, who convinced his Egyptian police contacts to track down and intercept the women at the airport.
âœAnother hour or so, a couple of hours, they would have been gone because the fixer was already there (at Istanbul airport) to meet them,â said RCMP Supt. Doug Best, who heads the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Ontario.
Nine months after those harrowing few days, the RCMP discussed its role in the case for the first time this week after federal prosecutors decided not to lay criminal charges against the teenagers â” a 15-year-old and two sisters, aged 18 and 19.
Really, there are many that would say that we probably saved the lives of these three young women
Police donâ™t know for certain why the teens left for Syria without telling their parents. They told police they were travelling for humanitarian purposes. But investigators said their social-media accounts showed they had an interest in the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
âœReally, there are many that would say that we probably saved the lives of these three young women,â Supt. Best told the National Post in an exclusive interview. âœNow after careful consideration by Crown, itâ™s been decided that we will not proceed with criminal charges against them.â
The families were notified Monday that no charges would be laid. Hussein Hamdani, who met with the families earlier, said he was pleased with the decision. He said if the young women had intended to marry ISIL fighters, that would not necessarily qualify as providing support to a terrorist group.
âœIt would have been a tough legal argument,â the Hamilton, Ont. lawyer said Tuesday. âœThese girls, theyâ™re so young. Clearly we donâ™t want to destroy their lives, thatâ™s not going to do society any good ⦠I think itâ™s best for Canada, itâ™s the right thing to do.â
About 18% of the foreigners heading to Syria and Iraq are now women, according to Joana Cook, a PhD candidate at the Department of War Studies, Kingâ™s College London. âœIt has been confirmed that a number of women from Canada are among these,â said Cook, who is studying the role of women in extremism for an independent report for Public Safety Canada.
The investigation into the three teenagers offers a rare glimpse of current efforts to deal with young Canadian women drawn to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. On July 14, 2014, the 15-year-old was dropped off at the school where she was taking summer classes. The sisters, meanwhile, said they were going to the library.
When they didnâ™t come home, their parents began to panic. The younger girlsâ™ parents started snooping and found evidence their daughter had bought airline tickets to Istanbul, with a brief stopover in Cairo. She had also obtained a Turkish travel visa and withdrawn $5,000 from her bank account.
The parents promptly filed missing persons reports with Peel Regional Police. Because the parents shared their concerns about Syria, Peel officers notified the Ontario Provincial Policeâ™s Provincial Anti-Terrorism Section, which got hold of the RCMP INSET in Toronto.
âœThe big thing is, the parents were wise enough to report that their daughters were missing,â Supt. Best said. âœIt basically came back to the good sense of the parents to have reported them missing and to have been very candid in describing what they believed to be the case: that they had left for Syria.â
The investigator on the case reached the RCMP liaison officer in Cairo early in the morning local time. The liaison officer immediately began canvassing his contacts in the Egyptian police, who managed to find the girls before their flight to Istanbul departed. The Egyptians held the girls and returned them to Canada on July 17.
âœIn this particular case, everything that could go right went right,â Supt. Best said. âœThere was a very good resolution in the sense that we were able to get these young females turned around in Cairo before they were able to carry on with their journey.â
The RCMP and Peel Regional Police conducted a âœjoint forces investigation,â confirmed Peelâ™s Acting Staff Sgt. David Kennedy. Since one of the girls had disappeared while on her way to class, the Peel school board also got involved.
âœWhen the board has heard rumours or specific concerns about students leaving to be part of overseas conflicts we have acted immediately,â said spokesman Brian Woodland. âœWe have connected with Peel Regional Police, received specific advice and direction and worked closely with them.â
The investigation determined that the younger girl had paid the travel costs of the other two, using money she had acquired legitimately. When police examined the young womenâ™s social-media profiles, they found exchanges they said suggested a sympathy for the ISIL cause and an interest in joining.
In particular, one of them had been interacting on the Internet with Musa Cerantonio, a notorious Australian Muslim convert and outspoken ISIL supporter. The International Centre for the Study of Radicalization calls him one of the most influential online radical preachers among extremists in Syria and Iraq.
Several Canadian ISIL members have posted travel advice for women on social media and suggested âœsistersâ they should follow on Twitter for guidance. ISIL prohibits women from taking part in combat so their roles are largely limited to serving as jihadi brides. In some cases, they have met ISIL fighters online and agreed to join them.
Researchers believe ISIL wives are motivated by extremist ideology that: portrays Muslims as victims of oppression; depicts such Western countries as Canada as sinful; and claims it is their religious duty to populate the Islamic state.
âœFemale migrants are not just rejecting the culture and foreign policy of the West; they are also embracing a new vision for society. They hope to contribute to this society, governed by a strict interpretation of Shariah law,â according to an Institute for Strategic Dialogue report.
But there is debate about how best to deal with these young women. Should they be treated as missing persons, or supporters of terrorism? Will parents be discouraged from coming forward if they believe their daughters could be prosecuted?
âœIt may be more challenging to address women through criminal prosecution in the case of ISIL as they are not the ones taking active fighting roles, and it may also be difficult to prove other types of support they are providing the group,â Cook said. âœThese are not as clear cut as may be the case with men going abroad with the specific intention to carry out terrorist activities.â
She said it would be more effective to look at who is recruiting women, for example âœbig sister figures,â and what narratives they are using. Sober accounts of the stark reality for jihadi wives and more support for groups focused on strengthening the roles of women in countering violent extremism could also help, she said.
âœWeâ™ve certainly seen an increase in the number of females that are expressing an interest, and weâ™ve seen them as young as age 13 express significant interest in joining the cause,â Supt. Best said. âœMost of this, of course, is occurring online.
âœAnd I guess the question I would ask is: How does a 13-year-old wake up one morning and decide, â˜Well these are the sites Iâ™m going to check and I want to support the ISIL cause.â™ I donâ™t have the answer to that, unfortunately.
âœI wish I did.â
National Post
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