ISIL recruits likely to be educated, World Bank says

A study by the World Bank has found that recruits to Islamic militant groups are likely to be well educated and from a relatively wealthy background. The study was based on internal records from the so-called Islamic State Group and solidifies the evidence that there is no obvious link between poverty, education levels and radicalisation. The data was leaked by a former member of ISIL in March and includes basic information of 3,803 foreign recruits from all over the world who joined the organisation between early 2013 and late 2014. The document involved data on country of residence, citizenship, marital status, skills, educational status, previous extremist experience and knowledge of Islamic law was recorded. It showed 69 per cent of recruits reported at least a secondary level education while 15 per cent left school before high school. Less than two per cent were recorded as illiterate. The report, compiled by Finn Church Aid, said: “A large fraction have gone on to study at university … Recruits from Africa, south and east Asia and the Middle East are significantly more educated than individuals from their cohort in their region of origin. “In countries with a large Muslim population, low degrees of religiosity, low levels of trust in religious institutions and strong government and social control of religion seem to be risk factors of radicalisation.” The research also found that ISIL’s attitude to using women as fighters has evolved, with female recruits beginning to take up tactical combat roles, where previous conceptions suggested they were mainly used as cooks, sex slaves and suicide bombers. Mahdi Abdile, director of research at Finn Church Aid and co-author of the study, told Reuters: “Recruiters are adapting to the tightening security environment. The intelligence community is on the lookout for young men, so it is easier for women to navigate past security barriers and penetrate communities.” “Mosques and [Islamic schools] used to be the place to get new recruits … now they are under the spotlight.”