On October 18-19, the IIJ’s Director of Programmes Gail Malone joined Hedayah, GCERF and a range of other organisations and Member States in Amman at the Returning FTFs Families Initiative Workshop to Integrate Policy and Practice, sponsored by the GCTF FTF Working Group. The programme incorporated two panel discussions and a two-part tabletop exercise to encourage participants to consider how best to develop comprehensive rehabilitation and reintegration policies for foreign fighters returning from conflict zones, as well as their family members. In addition to participating in the Criminal Justice breakout group during the exercise, Gail moderated a panel discussion on day two on Addressing the Approaches of Criminal Justice and Rule of Law, during which panellists discussed their experiences prosecuting returnees in Central Asia, the Maldives and Jordan, and offered suggestions on ensuring that national repatriation, rehabilitation and reintegration policies incorporate fair and Rule of Law-based processes for making individualized prosecution decisions in each case. This program builds on the work the IIJ has done since 2022 to encourage repatriation from Northeast Syria and to support countries in prosecuting those returnees who bear criminal responsibility for conduct occurring prior to their return.
