The Lost Children: France Takes Stock of Growing Jihadist Problem

In regulating immigration, policy planners anticipate newcomers to assimilate, especially over generations. Most do, but children of immigrant families long settled in France are often intrigued by jihad. Julia Amalia Heyer profiles a French family – the mother atheist and the father Muslim – whose 17-year-old daughter traveled to Antakya on the Turkish-Syrian border and then called home to report her marriage to a 25-year-old Tunisian fighter in Syria. Parents and western intelligence officials are wracking their brains to understand the motivations of middle-class youth who run away to a war zone. The young are often isolated and in search of a cause. Parents and friends panic about abrupt conversions to Islam. Analysts like Dounia Bouzar advise that enticements and brainwashing can occur during internet exchanges; parents should be wary of new clothing styles and long hours at the computer. Parents expect more controls from the government on movements of young people, but they could also be more engaged with children in critical thinking and spiritual pursuits, demonstrating that a fulfilling life, neither decadent nor wasteful, is readily available in the West. – YaleGlobal