On Sunday March 7, 2021, an incendiary report has been aired on the French channel M6’s “Exclusive Investigation” program. Subject matter of the investigation: The return of active Daesh fighters to the EU soil and their spread throughout the "SCHENGEN" zone.
Following the defeat of the Islamic State (DAESH), by the international coalition, some 500 ISIS members (logisticians, recruiters and financiers) managed to fleevia Turkey, Syria and Iraq. They crossed the borders and settle discreetly in France, and more particularly in Germany.
Today, some of these Daeshi members lead cool lives in Germany after a brief stop at the police station. They carry out work activities as normally as possible. Most intriguing is that their criminal records did not seem to arouse some curiosity on the part of the German police, despite compelling evidence. They are still seen as normal people, peaceful immigrants.
A tranquil life
Exclusive Investigation presented a few well-documented cases that leave no room for doubt as to their bloodthirsty history. Let us consider here the extreme example of Samir. The man who not only was fond of playing with his victims’ heads but he made no bones about it. He was loud in praise of his bloody feats that he even carefully videotaped. What happened to him? According to the report, he lives in a Lander near France and at the time of the report production, he was about to obtain his heavy truck driving license. One might wonder : Why did he precisely choose this type of license while the Germans have not yet forgotten the bombing of the Berlin Christmas market in December2016.
Let’s not forget that the Tunisian Anis Amri was driving a heavy truck when he killed twelve people of different nationalities and left more than fifty seriously injured. Yet the German secret service had received specific information from Morocco about the man four months earlier. But this information had been ignored.
The investigation also revealed the case of Majid who served in what IS called the finance ministry. He is currently leading a stress-free life in the Ruhr area where he makes a comfortable living thanks to a large fleet of luxury cars and a "halal" massage parlor. Both businesses were funded through the gains he made from the remittance flows towards Turkey, which he operated for the benefit of the Islamic State emirs.
“Just like Samir, Majid has never showed concern despite the compelling evidence given to the German authorities about his proven relationship with ISIS's headquarters. In addition, they both benefit from the protection of the same authorities.
The German game
That being said, one cannot help but ask the following questions:
Are the German authorities blind ? Have they made deals with the terrorists to ensure they do not commit terrorist acts in their country ? Did they recruit these terrorists after forgiving their criminal history ?
In the latter case, do the Germans know that Islamists never give up on their beliefs and that they can show obedience until they achieve their ultimate goal of establishing the caliphate ?
The German secret service knows, however, that it was in Germany that the September 11 attacks were conceived by the Hamburg cell.
Germany's attitude contrasts with the European desire to counter terrorism effectively. In fact, for the Council of Europe, "terrorism is a real threat to democracy, to the rule of law and to the enjoyment of human rights". A committee has been created for this purpose. The mission of the Council of Europe Committee on Counter-Terrorism (CDCT) is to “monitor and ensure a proper implementation of the Council of Europe’s legal instruments, while providing international experts with a tool for analyzing developments in the area of countering terrorism, enabling them to respond to these developments, including through the introduction of international standards."
Outside of Europe, countries like Morocco have been adversly affected by such complacency with terrorists. By the way, Germany offered food and shelter to an individual, sentenced in Morocco for acts linked to terrorism. From his safe haven, the latter continues to call on social networks for jihad, through bloody acts. Not being worried by the German authorities’ approach, he carried out his activities with complete impunity.This article was first published in L'Observateur and is republished with permission.