Some Westerners, probably very few, who traveled to Syria are happy and do not wish to leave. Some have died, often in combat, and are buried in what became their homeland. Many, however, have not found what they hoped for in the Caliphate and wish to return to the West after a tough experience. The hardcore British Jihadis fighting for the State refer to their homesick comrades as "mummy-boys.” It’s hard to know how many of the Western émigrés want to leave. Those trying to escape are often killed or threatened. Some are caring for their children and would not flee without ensuring their safety. The main reasons they want to come home are disappointment, fear, and realizing that cruelty was not in their nature.
The intense heat creates an ideal environment for exotic bugs and diseases, including tropical illnesses mostly unknown in the West. For example, a deadly flesh-eating bug is spread by sand flies, which feed on corpses left in the streets during fights. After feeding, the bugs can attack the living. Nasty business, these carnivorous bugs.
All this initially shocks the new recruit arriving in Syria. The harsh temperatures, rare diseases, and sand flies aren’t mentioned in the Caliphate’s recruitment brochures. Nor is the dull routine that many Western recruits are asked to perform. Some have written about their tasks being menial or unfulfilling. An Australian recruiter preparing to leave for Syria to join his comrades canceled his plans after hearing about the squalid conditions he would face. They slept on “spongy” mattresses and took showers with dirty buckets of water. Additionally, they had no toilet paper.
People who dream of becoming warriors often end up doing laundry, cooking, and cleaning up after others instead. One fighter complained about having to clean weapons and transport dead bodies from the front lines. He said, “Winter’s arrived here. It’s begun to get really hard.” A South African returning from the Caliphate remarked, “Much of the attraction of the Islamic State to outsiders is built on half-truths and propaganda. It’s no surprise that the reality did not live up to the illusion.”
Beyond worries about the weather, disease, and a dull lifestyle, many Westerners were also surprised by the hostility from locals. Westerners expect to be welcomed as liberators but are often seen as occupiers and thieves. They have heard comments like “You are here to sabotage my country; you are coming to force something on us.” Besides the violence, some Westerners are discouraged by the manners of their fellow countrymen. They find Middle Easterners, especially Arabs, to be rude and inconsiderate. One Briton blogged about his growing exhaustion from dealing with crude table manners, irritable behavior, and brazen theft of personal belongings. Still, many women and some girls packed their bags and headed for the Caliphate. One was Sharmeena Begum.
When she was 15 years old, Sharmeena traveled from her home in Bethnal Green, east London, into the world of the Caliphate. Ms. Begum, who skedaddled with two schoolmates in 2015, joined ISIS, found a husband, and waged war against the infidel. She married an Islamic State fighter soon after arriving and went on to have three children, none of whom survived the Coalition attacks and the sweeping misery of the area. Well, the Islamic State became Hotel California or, more accurately, a roach motel. She checked in, but she couldn’t check out.
This is pretty much what happened, although the details are unclear. All three girls from London traveled to Raqqa, Syria, where they were paired with husbands. Sharmeena’s new husband was Yago Riedijk, 27, a Dutch convert to Islam. They married just 10 days after arriving in the city in 2015. By Western standards, it was an unusual courtship. They had known each other for less than ten minutes before getting engaged. In Shamima’s words, “We need to see if we clicked.” They clicked and married. Yago explained, "Basically, she asked for some freedoms, which I agreed to give her - going shopping, seeing her friends, very basic stuff. We agreed on a dowry, and all she asked for was an English translation of the Koran, which I agreed to." We don’t have details about the honeymoon, though that might make for an interesting podcast. We know they held their wedding in a park that was shown in ISIS propaganda footage. Then they had their first child, a girl, in January 2017.
The three moved frequently to escape advancing enemy forces. They had a son named Jerah before relocating again, and he died at eight months from an unknown illness and malnutrition. Imagine watching your son starve. She tried to take him to an ISIS hospital, but there were no drugs available, and not enough medical staff were present. She also lost another daughter who died in infancy. Soon after, her husband, Yago, was captured by Kurdish forces. Shameena claimed that he wasn't really a fighter. This is an interesting comment. While in prison, Yago explained, "I made a huge mistake. I've thrown away years of my life. It was not my life. Luckily, I didn't directly hurt other people. But my joining and supporting a group like that. It's something that's not acceptable." Yes, many people would agree that it's not acceptable. He didn’t hurt people? I don’t know about that. Why did he travel there? What was he expecting to do? I’d like some answers.
As for his wife, Sharmeena, it is hard for many of us to imagine this woman’s emotional torment. She had to watch her children die slowly from deprivation and disease. Shameena had other losses. The London friends with whom she traveled likely died in Syria. The lives of Shameena’s friends were hauntingly similar to her own. Her friend, Amira Abase, married an 18-year-old Australian jihadist in July 2016. His moniker was “Ginger Jihadi.” Well, Ginger was killed in a Coalition strike. Amir may be alive, but not likely. Sharmeena’s other travel partner, Kadiza Sultana, married an American ISIS fighter of Somali heritage. He was killed in an airstrike. She was killed, maybe in some unmarked location. There is a dispute about that.
So, among the three Bethal friends, Sharmeema alone survived, and she was imprisoned at al-Roj camp, which has filthy living conditions and frequent outbreaks of violence. It has been described as a living hell, and she wants out. It is hardly surprising that Sharmeema desperately pleads to be allowed to come home. Her husband, children, and friends are dead, and there is no future in a vast prison camp. For nearly ten years, she has pleaded to return to Britain. But she was stripped of her citizenship long ago for joining an enemy organization.
When she could, she sent coded messages for help. According to those who knew her in the camp, she hung out with her best friend, Hoda Muthana, an American woman who also lost her citizenship after joining ISIS. The two tried to use coded language to communicate with the outside world, but the code wasn’t hard to crack. Hoda wrote, 'Bring five thousand gummy bears with u, the American brand is better. S (Shamima) also likes mints, about the same amount.” Well, I can’t decode all of that, but I am fairly sure that 'gummy bears' is code for U.S. greenbacks.
Sharmeena also failed in her efforts to retain British citizenship, highlighting a broader issue of ISIS brides still being held captive in Syria and Iraq. What should be done with them? Maya Foa, director of the human rights charity Reprieve, stated, "Exiling British nationals like Ms. Begum is about politics, not the law.” Some European courts side with Sharmeena, but they lack the ability to enforce their rulings. As for the many other European men and women still trapped in the Middle East, some cry, “We're humans, not animals.” Several journalists have spoken with women from Britain, Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Caribbean who say their children are punished for the sins of their parents. Many women captives claim they had been raped, tricked into going to Syria, or trafficked. All said they couldn't escape.
Among the remaining ISIS brides, there is a strong sense of nostalgia for their hometowns. In a part of the camp called Australia Street—named after the large Australian community there—rainbows and painted maps of Australia are displayed. A mother with two children from Melbourne said, "My kids have done absolutely nothing wrong. My daughter was two years old when we came here, and they know nothing. I'm trying to protect them from everything." Now, let’s turn to another case involving an Australian family that faced a similar tragedy.
In Jihad and the West, we examined the Nettleton family and their descent into the hell of the Caliphate. This is the story of Australians Karen and Peter Nettleton, along with their daughter, grandchildren, and great-grandchild. Their daughter Tara converted to Islam and, with her husband, took their five children to the Caliphate.
Australian grandmother Karen Nettleton wrestles with her memory to grasp what went wrong with her daughter, Tara. What caused it? How did it happen? A next-door neighbor described Tara as polite, attractive, and not very different from other girls in the neighborhood. One day, the neighbor noticed that Tara was wearing Islamic apparel. He said to her, “You are too pretty to wear those things.” After that, Tara never spoke to him again.
Tara met a Muslim when she was still a teenager. They were high school sweethearts. Her heartthrob was Khaled Sharrouf, a man with a troubled past who drifted in and out of petty crime and drug abuse. He was mentally ill, initially diagnosed with depression and later with schizophrenia. The son of Lebanese parents and raised in a dysfunctional family, Sharrouf served time for stockpiling weapons. Before his release, he was on medication, and in early 2009, doctors noted his “remarkable recovery.” Eventually, both Tara and Khaled embraced fundamentalist Islam and left for the Caliphate to start a new life. They, along with their children, became well-known. Karen Nettleton still cannot understand her daughter’s slide into sadism or her joy in attracting global attention.
While working with her husband, Tara was enslaved, raped, and beaten by women. Then they started killing on behalf of the Caliphate. It became a family affair. There is a sick picture of one of their sons, just seven years old at the time, holding a severed head for a photo. Proudly, Khaled shouted, “That’s my boy!” which drew worldwide disgust when posted on Facebook. At thirty-one, Tara died from complications of appendicitis.
Their eldest daughter, Zaynab, who had a child, was killed in a drone strike. Had Tara lived, she would have been a thirty-two-year-old grandmother. Karen desperately tried to rescue her surviving grandchildren. She worried the girls could be turned into sex slaves or beggars. “I am devastated because I wasn’t able to be at my daughter’s side. I’m not able to be there for my grandkids and great-grandchild, who are suffering traumatic events outside their control.” That information was accurate ten years ago, and here is an update. Sharrouf was killed in an airstrike along with his two sons. His boys were eight and nine years old when they died.
However, the three children were repatriated to Australia in April 2019 and rushed into the loving arms of their grandmother, Karen Nettleton. And today? What is their status? Are they healthy, educated, and employed? I really don’t know, despite searching the internet. If anyone has any information, please pass it along to us, and I will include it in a podcast. The topic remains relevant and is likely to attract attention for years. There are still ISIS brides and their husbands stranded in the Middle East. Should they be allowed to return to their homes in the West? This is a very controversial question that divides public opinion and political decisions.
One side appeals to compassion, especially for children stranded in the filth of the camps. They often claim that those hoping to return have given up their loyalty to the Caliphate and are eager to reintegrate into mainstream Western society. They point to Sharmeena Begum’s transformation during her imprisonment. She removed her full-face coverings, put on sunglasses, and wore a tank top. She promised to become again. OK. But what does that really mean in today’s Britain? She could become a liberal and advocate for Western values. Or, she may find a welcoming place among radical Islamists and promote ISIS’s beliefs. She wouldn't be alone.
Those who want to prevent her from returning to Britain highlight the growing issue of Islamic militancy. Also, her claims that she did not take part in murder or torture are questionable. They echo those of her former Dutch husband, who said he never hurt anyone. Some freed Kurdish captives say she was deeply involved in the oppression. An ISIS slave described Begum as friendly but also as an ISIS slave master who sold girls as young as 14 into lives of sexual exploitation. Additionally, Sharmeena sent bloodied texts as an ISIS fighter and wore an ISIS badge on her school blazer to recruit fellow students. How many other Western ISIS brides have similar biographies and terrorist pedigrees?
Well, Americans might want to follow the fate of Sharmeena’s prison pal, Hoda Muthana, who was raised in Alabama. As of now, the 30-year-old mother pleads, “I just want to go home.” This is the same woman who joined ISIS at age 20. During her time in the Caliphate, she tweeted to Americans that they should attack parades on national holidays and “spill all of their blood or rent a big truck n drive all over Them. 'Kill them.’ That’s pretty clear to me. President Obama didn’t like the tone of that message, so he revoked her citizenship, and the Supreme Court chose not to intervene. So, as far as I know, both Sharmeena and Hoda are still trapped in the prison or refugee camp. But what are your thoughts? Do you think we should bring them and their children back and give them a second chance? Also, do you have any updates on these women?
