INTRODUCTION
Morocco’s geographical location attracts human flows. It is a land of emigration, immigration, return migration and transit, and also a coveted location for international and regional terrorist networks. Morocco has been an attractive country for Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) as well as for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Terror threats in Morocco have become more frequent in recent years as Islamic radicalism has spread throughout North Africa. The country has been targeted by terrorist attacks that started with suicide bombing attacks in Casablanca in 2003 and further attacks in 2007 and 2011.
Since 2011, 1,560 Moroccans (male and female) have joined the Islamic State group to fight in Iraq and Syria, where the Salafi jihadist militants control swaths of territory (Khiame Reference Khiame2016).Footnote 1 The flow of foreigners to Syria and Iraq is remarkable not only for its scale, but also for its inclusion of many women. In 2014, a Moroccan man was arrested at Casablanca airport attempting to fly to Turkey to join ISIS with his two young daughters, aged two and four years old, and a Moroccan woman with whom he had a “traditional” marriage (Moore Reference Moore2014). A year after, In October 2015, a cell of 10 terrorists was arrested both in Spain and Morocco. It included also two Moroccan women. They were recruiting fighters to join the ranks of the ISIS extremist group (Mars 2015).
Today, as ISIS power is shifting from the Persian Gulf region to areas in Africa, some of which really are not that far from Morocco. Morocco is currently facing a rising threat of Islamic radicalism and terrorism as ISIS expands in North Africa, mainly in Libya, where it controls the coastal city of Sirte and has seized key oil ports on the Mediterranean coast (Freeman Reference Freeman2016).
A growing number of Moroccans are joining ISIS on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, while several hundred others have traveled to Libya in recent months. In 2015, reports indicated that up to 300 Moroccans were training in Libya (Kajjo Reference Kajjo2016). So, it stands to reason that these militants will one day seek to return home and maybe will plan attacks when they do.
Moroccan male fighters who migrated to ISIS received so much attention in official discourse, and even in some research undertaken recently, but less attention, however, has been given to the Moroccan women who traveled to join ISIS. There is a scarcity of data related to Moroccan female migration to ISIS, their sociodemographic profile, methods of their recruitment and the Moroccan policy adopted in dealing with return men and women fighters and programs of their reintegration once they come back home.
This study aims to provide insight into Moroccan migrants to ISIS, with special focus on Moroccan female migrants, examining the current situation of Moroccan migration to ISIS and Moroccan responses to terrorism.
THE CURRENT SITUATION OF MOROCCAN MIGRATION TO ISIS
Moroccan Migration to ISIS in Academic Research
Migration to ISIS is a new topic for migration scholars. There is a scarcity of academic studies and research on this issue. In Morocco, data on migration to ISIS can be gathered from some writings dealing with terrorism phenomena in general, newspapers (Bladi.net 2018), television talk shows and some international reports (Dodwell, Milton, and Rassle rn Reference Dodwell, Milton and Rasslern2016).
The lack of interest is due to the scarcity of migration to ISIS-related information. Moreover, all the quantitative and qualitative data on this topic are delivered by a unique institution which is the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ).
Migrants to ISIS: Statistics
Morocco is one of the main suppliers of fighters to ISIS. In May 2016, BCIJ’s Director indicated in an interview concerning the Moroccan counter-terrorism policy, that 1,600 Moroccan nationals were fighting with armed groups in Syria and Iraq, and that 482 had been killed there, while a total of 2,885 persons had been jailed before departure and upon return (Medias24 2016).
According to a report released by the Tetouan-based North Observatory of Human Rights, 38% of Moroccan jihadists who joined ISIS in 2015 were women, while 62% of them were men (Morocco World News 2015).
Available official statistics on female migrants to ISIS come from BCIJ. According to some data presented in February 2016, Moroccan women have been amongst female ISIS migrants as fighters and recruiters. In all, 241 women have joined ISIS, while 52 of them have returned back to Morocco.
In recent Moroccan terrorism history, the country has witnessed many cases of women implicated in terrorist cells. It started with the first terrorist attacks in 2003 when Moroccan authorities arrested the minor twin sisters Iman and Sanaa Laghrissi recruited at age 13 years by a local cell affiliated to Al-Qaeda (Hespress 2015).
The Laghrissi sisters were condemned to five years for planning a terrorist attack against the Parliament and other places in Rabat. They were found guilty of conspiracy to prepare and perpetrate terrorist acts, raising funds to use them for terrorist attacks, undermining sacred values, beggary and holding unauthorized public meetings.
Two years after, King Mohammed VI granted pardon to the twins in 2005 after serving their sentence in a rehabilitation center.
Profile of Migrants to ISIS
It is not easy to draw holistic characteristics of Moroccan migrants to ISIS. In this regard, BCIJ indicates that most of 1,560 Moroccan jihadists in ISIS came from both urban and rural areas. Their level of education does not exceed primary school. They are easily influenced people (Jourdan Reference Jourdan2015). These official facts remain inadequate to draw a global idea about characteristics of Moroccan male and female migrants to ISIS.
Otherwise, more characteristics of Moroccan migrants to ISIS can be found in a survey report on “the socio-demographic characteristics of Jihadists from northern Morocco who are fighting in Iraq and Syria” released in 2014 by the Tetouan-based North Observatory of Human Rights. The report was based on a sample of 30 jihadists, including two women based in the North of Morocco (Majdi and Charrad Reference Majdi and Charrad2014).
According to that report, the main factors that motivated jihadists to join the ranks of the Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, in Iraq and parts of Syria, have nothing to do with religion as it is commonly believed.
It was reported that contrary to the widely held belief suggesting that these young men and women who join extremist groups in parts of the Middle East did so primarily for religious purposes, the report added that religion and the “belief in the cause” come in second place in terms of the preoccupations of Moroccans joining ISIS (Tetouan-Based North Observatory of Human Rights 2014).
According to the Observatory report, 67% of the respondents are under the age of 25 years while 74% are from disadvantaged social classes who live in the underprivileged shanty towns of Fnideq, Martil and Tetouan in the north of Morocco.
Concerning levels of education, the same report stated that many of the 30 respondents have not completed the basic cycle of elementary school education (57%); others have completed secondary school education (27%), while lower upper secondary enrollment has been noticed (6%) and 10% of the respondents have a university degree.
The report added that the jihadists surveyed said that they lived a reclusive life and were not socially integrated. They worked mainly as peddlers, construction worker assistants and hawkers, highlighted the report (Tetouan-Based North Observatory of Human Rights 2014).
As for their political affiliations, 90% of the respondents said that they had never joined a political party or association; 10% of them participated in the protests of the 20th February movement and supported Islamist prisoners (El Barakah Reference El Barakah2014).
Concerning the main characteristics of female migrants to ISIS, the same Observatory reported in 2015 that ISIS had been addressing Moroccan women with sentimental speech to join the ranks of ISIS along with their husbands and children. ISIS is aware of the significant role that women play, if convinced to join, to lure their husbands or sons to leave the country and join the terrorist group (Morocco World News 2015).
Methods of Recruitment of Female Migrants to ISIS
As mentioned above, 241 Moroccan women have joined ISIS; however, Moroccan authorities do not provide information on how these women have been recruited. To examine how ISIS recruits women we present some cases of Moroccan women living in Spain.
It should be mentioned that most Moroccan women recruiters are from the north of Morocco and/or based in some European countries. A joint Spanish–Moroccan police operation resulted in the arrest of many suspected ISIS recruiters during the last two years.
Many Moroccan women residents of Spain were arrested in 2015 on suspicion of running a major recruitment campaign for ISIS. According to the police investigation the jihadists collaborate widely with other Moroccan women based in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta and Melilla to recruit women from Morocco and other European countries (Badcock Reference Badcock2015).
At least 15 families in Ceuta did report some of their members missing, suspected of traveling to join ISIS in Syria or Iraq. Several women have been arrested for allegedly recruiting other women to join ISIS. For example, there is the case of Rahma Yarmak (18 years old) who was arrested on the Turkish border while trying to join her friend Loubna Muhamed (21 years old) as revealed by the National Public Radio (Frayer Reference Frayer2015).Footnote 2
Rahma was recruited by her friend Loubna who joined ISIS first. From ISIS territory, Loubna kept in touch with her friend via WhatsApp almost daily and she managed to convince her friend. Rahma left Ceuta but she did not succeed in her migration project.
In this regard, the Spanish Minister of the Interior affirmed that 80% of the recruiting and indoctrination process takes place on social networks and only 20% in places of worship and prisons (Mars 2015).
As highlighted by analysts and researchers on terrorism, everywhere ISIS is making great use of the Internet and online social media to recruit fighters. In Morocco, as it was reported by the Tetouan-based North Observatory of Human Rights, 60 % of jihadists have been recruited through more advanced tools, mainly the Internet and social networks (El Barakah Reference El Barakah2014).
THE MOROCCAN RESPONSES TO TERRORISM
In Morocco, counter-terrorism is treated as a top policy priority since the country experienced suicide bombing attacks in Casablanca in 2003. The terrorist attacks were taken as a “warning signal” regarding the relationship between domestic and international terrorist networks; these attacks have also brought to light the warlike intentions of Al-Qaeda and its franchises towards the Kingdom, notably AQIM. The focus has been reinforced by further attacks in 2007 and 2011 (Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs 2014).
After May 16, 2003, Morocco has adopted a strategy including an anti-terrorism law, social assistance programs and a reform of the religious sector (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation 2014).
Strengthening Counter-Terrorism Legal Framework
Acts of terrorism committed since 2003 have pushed Morocco to enhance its counter-terrorism policies through amending existing or enacting new laws related to the criminal justice system.
Passed only two weeks after the attacks of May 16, 2003, Law 03.03 was issued by Royal Charter and published in the Moroccan Official Journal on May 29, 2003. The law contains a broad definition of terrorism, including its incitement, the provision of jurisprudential justifications for it and other activities supporting it such as pamphlet distribution and display. It sets punishments for active participation in terrorism, including a minimum 10-year sentence; terrorist activities leading to injury mandate life imprisonment and terrorism causing death leads to a death sentence, which has not been carried out since 1986. The law also allows an abbreviated wire-tapping procedure and the seizure of property used in terrorism and a 12-day administrative detention period for terrorism suspects (Kalpakian Reference Kalpakian2011:2).
In spite of being highly criticized by both human rights activists and Islamists who believe that it is being used unfairly, Law 03-03 played a vital role, in terms of its actual effects, in dissolving many cells and preventing further attacks.
In 2011, after the Marrakech terrorist attacks, Morocco made several amendments to its Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code and passed an anti-money-laundering law (Ministry of Justice and Liberties 2015).
In September 2014, responding to terrorist threats, Morocco’s Cabinet approved a bill aimed at strengthening counter-terrorism laws. The 86-14 Bill, submitted by the Minister of Justice and Liberties, amends and supplements the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code provisions relating to the fight against terrorism. The bill introduces provisions to revise the Penal Code so as to criminalize joining training camps in the regions of tension (Maroc.ma 2014).
The bill also provides for amending the Criminal Procedure Code so as to authorize the prosecution and judgment of all Moroccans inside the country or abroad, and any alien within the national territory, for the crime of terrorism committed outside the Kingdom of Morocco.
Institutional Responses to Terrorism
Since 2003, the Moroccan government has been adopting policies designed to prevent and protect against the threat of terrorism other than through the legal system per se. These policies focus on enhancing the capabilities of security forces and on trying to deal with certain religious ideas that play a role in formulating the mindset of terrorists.
Morocco calls for multidimensional and integrated approaches in the counter-terrorism fight based on coherence and complementarities between the three pillars, namely reinforcing security governance, fighting poverty, social exclusion and inequalities, and promoting religious values like tolerance (Mansouri Reference Mansouri2014).
Pillars of Moroccan Counter-Terrorism Policy
(1) Reinforcing Security Governance. The threat of the Islamic State and its splinter cells in North Africa has prompted the Ministry of the Interior’s acceleration of national security measures. In October 2014, Morocco enhanced effort to combat threats of terrorism through a strategy called Operation “Hadar/Warning Operation”. The multi-agency cooperation “Hadar security forces” consists of the Royal Armed Forces, the Royal Gendarmerie, the national police, and auxiliary forces. This counter-terrorism strategy, meant to prevent Moroccan extremists trained abroad from re-entering the state, focuses on patrolling key sites and cities in order to protect civilians and foreign visitors (Nouvelle Tribune 2015).
In 2015, the Moroccan government has created BCIJ affiliated to the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance. The missions of the new bureau of investigations are outlined in Article 108 of the Criminal Code. BCIJ intervenes in the cases of terrorism, endangering the security of the state, kidnapping, explosives and arms trafficking. This information has been reported by the U.S. Country Report on Terrorism (U.S. Department of State 2015).
(2) Fighting Poverty, Social Exclusion and Inequalities. Morocco is convinced that socio-economic development must remain at the heart of any counter-terrorism strategy seeking sustainable, long-term success. Morocco’s counter-terrorism strategy is based also on the National Initiative for Human Development (NIHD) launched by Morocco’s king in 2005. The aim is to implement a tool to fight extreme poverty and social exclusion, and to provide women and youth in marginalized neighborhoods with better prospects to have a brighter future and be lifted out of poverty.
This initiative was accompanied by an unprecedented number of projects across the country whose aim is to foster job creation and create a certain balance between the different regions of the kingdom. Ten years after the launch of NIHD, almost 7 million people benefited from more than 34,000 projects targeting youth and women (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation 2014).
(3) Promoting Religious Values as Tolerance. This approach is not based solely on the security aspect, but goes beyond it to include a successful religious and spiritual strategy meant to promote a version of Islam that extols the values of tolerance. In this regard, Moroccan authorities have adopted a “soft power” approach to ensure the control of its religious sphere.
As a result, the government decided to control and monitor mosques all over the kingdom in a way that left no room for radical groups to exploit places of worship to spread their propaganda.
This measure was coupled with the determination to promote Morocco’s practice of Islam and counter the radical views on Islam spread by some satellite channels based in the Gulf. The goal was to ensure the spiritual security of Moroccans, provide them with a better understanding of the precepts and the noble values of Islam and highlight Morocco’s religious tradition based on moderation, tolerance and balance, while combating the temptations of extremism (Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs 2015. On the other hand, Morocco launched a large-scale program to turn mosques into venues of teaching the Moroccan brand of Islam, which is based on the Maliki-Ashari school of Sunni Islam (Toufiq 2014).
This strategy was accompanied by the launch in June 2014 of a religious support program, which aims to train imams across Morocco and countries facing the threat of violent extremism and teach future imams and preachers the values of an open and tolerant Islam as it has always been practised in Morocco. A year later, the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidines and Morchidates (religious preachers) had been established. The Institute offers training to imams from Morocco, the Arab world, Africa and Europe in line with the 2014 religious support program (Institut Mohammed VI de formation des Imams prédicateurs et des prédicatrices 2015).
Finally, the religious reforms included better education and female inclusion in the religious establishment. In 2005 the Moroccan Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs initiated the first session of a program to train women spiritual guides known as “Mourchidate”. Morocco is still training female spiritual guides to fight extremism (Nast Reference Nast2010).
(4) Moroccan Responses via Cooperation. Morocco is convinced that confronting terrorism cannot be achieved without the involvement of all partners. Morocco’s contribution to the fight against terrorism reflects its belief that an effective international counter-terrorism strategy must be implemented at three levels: national, regional and international.
In this regard, Morocco has consolidated its cooperation with the different UN mechanisms in charge of fighting terrorism, including the Counter-Terrorism Committee (Mansouri Reference Mansouri2014). Also, Morocco cooperates widely with international partners to reduce the flow of ISIS fighters. As indicated in Le livre gris du terrorisme, Morocco has enhanced its intelligence sharing with U.S. and European anti-terrorism agencies, especially that of Spain (Nakagawa, Rezrazi, and Matsumoto Reference Nakagawa, Rezrazi and Matsumoto2015:243–53).
As indicated above, Morocco provides an exemplary precedent in effectively fighting terrorism. Its policy as demonstrated is including repressive and “soft” counter-radicalization and de-mobilization measures that cover before departure of ISIS migrants and others upon their return.
Phases of Counter-Terrorism Policy
(1) Measures Before Departure. Morocco’s counter-terrorism approach is not only security-oriented; it also includes preventive measures, social and economic considerations as well as religious supervision.
According to Le livre gris du terrorisme, Moroccan authorities have managed since 2005 to dismantle numerous terrorist networks run by AQIM members based in the Sahel region, namely the groups of “Fath Al Andalous” (2008) and “Al Mourabitoune al Joudoud” (2009) (Nakagawa et al. Reference Nakagawa, Rezrazi and Matsumoto2015:77–83).
In 2014, by putting Moroccan security forces on high alert and making them proactive, and share information, “Hadar” allowed Moroccan security forces to arrest a large number of terrorist cells that planned to carry out attacks against civilians and government institutions. Thus “Hadar” proved its ability to protect Moroccan citizens and foreign visitors and prevent terrorists from targeting Morocco’s security and stability.
Before departure preventive measures have led to dismantling terrorist cells. According to the Director of BCIJ, between 2002 and February 2016, Moroccan intelligence services prevented 324 attacks, and broke up 155 terrorist cells (11 cells per year). During the same period, 324 terrorist plots were foiled and 2,885 suspected terrorists were arrested (Bladi.net 2016a). In addition, 32 terrorist cells affiliated to ISIS were broken up between 2013 and February 2016 (Medias24 2016).
There are no available official data on potential Moroccan migrant women amongst the 2,885 detainees. According to an online newspaper Bladi.net three people including a woman were sentenced by the first-degree criminal chamber of the Salé Appeal court, on charges of terrorism. According to the police investigation, the three defendants were sued for forming a gang to prepare and commit terrorist acts, and being in contact with ISIS leaders (Bladi.net 2016b).
(2) Upon Return Measures. While the process of ISIS fighters returning to North African countries has begun, there is little information on the numbers of ISIS returnees or estimation of expected returnees. Moroccan authorities acknowledged in mid-2014 that 220 Moroccan fighters were known to have returned home. However, the exact number of ISIS returnees amongst 2,885 terrorists detained in Moroccan prisons is not known. BCIJ does not provide accurate data on ISIS returnees (Press TV 2016).
Otherwise, BCIJ indicates that amongst 241 female migrants to ISIS, 52 came back home.Footnote 3 However, there is no existing information on their current situation in Morocco. BCIJ does not even mention if these women were arrested or not (Medias24 2016).
Actually, we do not have the exact number of arrested women. According to some newspapers, in 2015–2016, the total number of women arrested during BCIJ operations does not exceed 10 women (Bladi.net 2016b).
Upon return, a reintegration system has been discussed. For this purpose, the Moroccan government is considering establishing mechanisms through which ISIS returnees may be reintegrated into society, mainly for those who do not pose a security risk. Until today, BCIJ has not given data on a reintegration system of male and female ISIS returnees.
CONCLUSION
This article represents an attempt to analyze Moroccan female migration to ISIS. Who are they? Why do they leave? How do they leave? What are their plans before and upon departure? Moreover, the article shows the Moroccan authorities’ responses to terrorism in Morocco before and upon departure. It is an attempt to assess the government responses to Moroccan migration to join ISIS, with a focus on female migration.
The analysis of the diverse questions contributes to the understanding of Moroccan female migration to ISIS and the social, cultural and political challenges resulting from that. Thus, we can draw a number of conclusions based on available information.
The main conclusions of this article are as follows:
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∙ Lack of academic interest on Moroccan female migration to ISIS;
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∙ Scarcity of information related to Moroccan female migration to ISIS;
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∙ Difficulties in gathering accurate data on Moroccan female migrants to ISIS;
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∙ The domination of BCIJ of quantitative and qualitative data on male and female migrants to ISIS;
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∙ Most information is gathered from newspapers (written and online), television talk shows and a few reports;
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∙ Early age of female migrants’ indoctrination and recruitment;
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∙ Females recruit and assist others to join ISIS;
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∙ Gender relations in a patriarchal society and their impact on taking decisions to join ISIS;
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∙ Methods and tools of recruitments (Internet, social networks, messaging applications, places of worship, prisons, etc.);
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∙ Integrated, multidimensional and preventive Moroccan counter-terrorism policy;
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∙ Successful pre-departure counter-terrorism policy “ISIS cells dismantling”;
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∙ Ambiguity on counter-terrorism policy upon return and the questioning of its effectiveness;
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∙ Absence of gender-sensitive counter-terrorism policy.
In fact, if we are to learn anything from this study, it is that we require more information regarding female migrants to ISIS, including Moroccan men in general. More information, analysis and cooperation are needed to deepen the understanding of migration to ISIS and to develop effective national responses in the future.
Acknowledgements
There is a Japanese proverb which states that “none of us is as smart as all of us.” Nowhere is this statement more true than in the case of trying to understand terrorist organizations like ISIS and the ways it used to recruit fighters, and women.
The Advanced Research Workshop on Responses to Female Migration to ISIS, organized by The Nato Science for Peace and Security Programme, was an opportunity to bring together a collection of motivated experts dedicated toward a greater understanding of current challenges posed by ISIS as well as different international responses to tackle this problem.
I would like to thank Emilio C. Viano and Mohammed Ayatt, the Workshop Co-Chairs for their professionalism and for providing insights and expertise that greatly assisted the organization of an active workshop with much interaction, discussion and collaboration. I also express my gratitude to the Workshop Co-Chairs for requiring the publication of the papers presented during the Workshop.
My gratitude also goes to all the individuals working for the International Annals of Criminology who assisted in the production of this edition.
Bahija Jamal is professor of international law at the Faculty of Law, Hassan II University, Ain Chock, Casablanca, Morocco. She is a practitioner in the fields of Human Rights, Migration, Asylum and Combating Human Trafficking. She has also been on the staff of various international organizations, some affiliated with the United Nations, and of a Moroccan ministry. She is a consultant with the International Organization of Migration.
