These Women Regret Joining Islamic State, Want to Come Home

 

Many women who were part of the Islamic State (IS) remain loyal to the group, even after it fell this year. But a few say they regret joining it.

The Associated Press spoke¹ with four women from foreign countries who came to Syria to be part of the so-called caliphate. They said they joined IS for different reasons. But all four now believe they made a mistake and want to go back to their home countries.

Today, they live in a camp in northern Syria with tens of thousands of other IS family members. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces – or SDF – controls the camp.

Their situation shows the difficult question of what do with the men and women who traveled from other countries to join the IS. In general, their home governments do not want to take them back. The SDF complains that it is forced to deal with them.

And to many, the women’s regret is not believable or not important. They all willingly joined a group that was well-known to be extremely violent.

But here is what they told Western reporters.

Aliya

Aliya is a 24-year-old Indonesian. She says she grew up in a conservative Muslim family, but she did not follow the religion. Then, one day she decided² to change her behavior sharply. She joined IS to “make up” for her past. She believed that if she moved to the caliphate, her sins would be cleared.

In 2015, Aliya married an Algerian man who was also thinking about joining IS. They settled in Raqqa, Syria, the city that IS used as its capital. The couple soon had a son.

But Aliya said the situation was not what she expected. IS took the couple’s passports. They did not permit the couple to communicate privately³. She said her husband was sent to jail because he refused to become a fighter.

In 2017 IS militants⁴ gave Aliya and her son permission to leave. Her parents are trying to convince Indonesian officials to permit her to come home.

“I was young,” Aliya said. “Some people still love IS. Me, because I’ve lived there, I see how they are, so I’m done with them.”

Lawson

Gailon Lawson is from Trinidad and Tobago. She is 45 years old. She became Muslim only a few years ago. Shortly after she accepted the new religion, she married a man in Trinidad who followed IS teaching. Lawson became the man’s second wife. She said she followed him to Syria in 2014, along with her then 12 year old son.

Lawson said she knew immediately she had made a mistake. Not long after they arrived in Syria, the couple divorced.

Lawson said her main concern quickly became keeping her son from being enlisted⁵ as a fighter. To get him out of Baghouz this year, she dressed him as a woman in robes and a veil. The two escaped the city, but then Kurdish security forces detained the young man. Lawson says she has not heard from him in weeks.

Samira

Samira is a 31-year-old Belgian woman. She said that when she was younger and lived in Europe, she drank alcohol and went dancing at clubs. Then, she said, “I wanted to change my life. I found Islam.”

She said she accepted IS messages that Europe would never accept Muslims. She believed she could be truly Muslim only if she was part of the so-called caliphate.

“It was very stupid, I know,” she said.

When she reached Syria, IS militants permitted her to choose a husband. Samira chose a French citizen.

In 2016 the couple had a son. That year they also hired a smuggler⁶ to help them escape. But the smuggler took their money and reported them to IS instead.

Finally, in 2018 the family surrendered themselves to forces that opposed IS.

Samira says she is now trying to get home and become part of Belgian culture again. She says she hates IS.

“They sold us a dream, but it was an open prison. They kill innocent people. All that they do, these things, it’s not from Islam.”

Polman

Kimberly Polman is a 46-year-old Canadian woman. She came to Syria to join her new husband, a man she knew only from online. But she says he became abusive, and they soon divorced.

She married again and worked in a hospital. Polman treated children who had been wounded in the fighting.

“I saw an incredible number of children die,” she said. Polman came to blame the militants for the suffering she saw.

Early this year, she and her husband surrendered to the SDF. She wants to return to Canada. She says she is not safe in the camp because she has spoken out against IS.

“I feel so badly that I think I don’t deserve a future,” she said. “I shouldn’t have trusted.”

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I’m Anna Mateo.

Words in This Story

caliphate - n. an area controlled by an important Muslim political and religious leader

incredible - adj. difficult or impossible to believe

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。