Terrorism Financing and the Recruitment of Foreign Terrorist Fighters Workshop, Pretoria, 28 Feb – 02 Mar 2017
According to the UN Security Council, terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaida, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh) and associated groups have attracted over 30,000 Foreign Terrorist Fighters from over 100 Member States. Increasingly, terrorist groups are working to radicalize individuals and incite them to leave their homes to become foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs). These groups leverage the Internet and social media for recruitment, creating a truly global security threat.
In view of these developments, a 3-day workshop on Terrorist Financing and Recruitment of Foreign Terrorist Fighters for senior managers, from various law enforcement institutions, from 15 Southern and Eastern African countries was held in Pretoria, South Africa, from 28 February to 02 March.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Fitz-Roy Drayton from the UNODC, highlighted the need for buy-in from senior managers, to enable measures to be put in place to combat terrorism financing. He added that the Balkan Route – which is the traditional route for smuggling heroin, is progressively being difficult and as a result traffickers are resorting to transporting drugs by road to the Indian Ocean coast. The drugs are then transported by sea to the Swahili coast and then to Southern Africa. “We need to squeeze the flow of funding to the terrorist groups in order to stop the recruitment of FTFs, who are increasingly constituting a serious danger to their States of origin, transit, destination, as well as neighbouring zones of armed conflict in which they are active”, he added.
The value of sharing information – relationships -relationships - relationships
“Relationships, Relationships, Relationships“, was the theme for the workshop which was characterised by group discussions and interactive activities centred on sharing information. Because these challenges are by their nature international, the workshop was to enhance international and internal cooperation as attempts to combat the threat through a purely domestic approach will not work.
Information sharing is key to identifying foreign terrorist fighters and preventing the funding of terrorist activities across borders. Key activities from the workshop included:
- Analysis of strength and weaknesses of current infrastructures in combating terrorism
- Analysis of strength and weaknesses of terrorist organisations.
- A critical analysis of the terrorist funding cycle – raise- store- move and use
- Terrorist funding case studies
- Multi-Agency and public private partnerships, and
- Preparation of National Risk Assessments
Case studies
The success of rapid information sharing is clear.
In December 2014, three individuals – two men aged 18 and 27, and a 15-year-old boy – wanted in Spain on terrorism-related charges were arrested in Bulgaria at a border checkpoint with Turkey, just hours after INTERPOL issued an alert. They were believed to be heading to join insurgents in Syria.
Another individual wanted for terrorist offences was apprehended in Lebanon on his way to Syria in October 2014, thanks to Belgium’s decision to issue an international alert through INTERPOL.
Operational exchange
ARINSA helps to bring together investigators, prosecutors and various law enforcement agents from 12 countries in Southern Africa for operational exchange on anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing. Comprising member countries mostly from Southern Africa and other international organizations, the ARINSA network meets regularly to foster international cooperation and exchange information on best practises and achievements in tracing the proceeds of crime.
Future Training
The senior managers were tasked with selecting staff from within their respective departments who are going to receive, similar but more operationally centred workshops throughout the year. The senior managers will then meet again in December to review progress.