Ms. Dayan Farias Picon: Rehabilitation and reintegration of children associated with terrorist and violent extremist groups a key objective for Central Asian and other Member States

UNODC recently conducted a National Workshop in Tajikistan on Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Children Affected by The Foreign Terrorist Fighters Phenomenon.

We interviewed Ms. Dayan Farias Picon, UNODC Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, on the phenomenon of children recruited and exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups and UNODC’s approach in supporting Central Asian States returning children of foreign fighters.


Q: Why should returning children from Syria and Iraq be a priority for Member States?


A: The conflicts in Syria and Iraq have presented a humanitarian and child-protection challenge of incomparable complexity. Children of foreign fighters lived for years under regular and continuous air-bombardment; they were exposed to violence as victims and witnesses, often moving dozens of times to survive or find safety.

Children have been specifically targeted for recruitment as they represent economic and strategic advantages for terrorist groups. Manipulating children is far easier than manipulating adults since they do not have a clear understanding of life and death. They can easily underestimate risks and rely on adults as references in their developmental process. Such children have been exploited, subjected to indoctrination and multiple levels of extreme violence, forced to engage in combat and suicide missions, or to act as human shields.

Rehabilitation and reintegration of children associated with terrorist and violent extremist groups must be the key objective for Members States and other key stakeholders working with these children. The approach of UNODC to this phenomenon has been to recognize that due to the considerable power imbalance between terrorist groups and child recruits and the ongoing physical, mental and psychological development of children, and the experience of violence and abuse at the hands of these groups, these children should be considered primarily as victims of an extremely serious form of violence. This is a position that is supported by international human rights law, international criminal law, international humanitarian law and the international counter-terrorism framework. In line with this, UNODC congratulates the Governments of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan for their leading role in returning large numbers of citizens and welcomes efforts of Kyrgyzstan for planning such a repatriation. While returning children from conflict areas involves significant operational challenges, these governments are investing considerable resources in legal and policy strategies, especially with respect to repatriation, rehabilitation, and re-integration. Such efforts serve as an example to the international community. 


Q: What are the consequences for children of foreign fighters and those who have been recruited and exploited by terrorist groups of being exposed to violence?


A: Children of foreign fighters, as well as children who have been actively recruited and exploited by terrorist groups, have experienced multiple levels of violence, neglect, hardship or trauma while living in a conflict zone or during their subsequent displacement, transfer, and accommodation in detention-like conditions. These children have witnessed, or in certain cases have been involved in, acts of terrorism, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Violence often continued after leaving the groups, as reports show that children have been placed in detention facilities with adult men, provided with limited services and minimal support to address their complex physical and psychological needs.

Children’s needs are complex as childhood is a period of ongoing physical, psychological and emotional development. Advances made in neuroscientific research show that the brain development of individuals continues after the end of adolescence, well into a person’s twenties, even up to 25 years old. This means that throughout childhood and adolescence, children have different capacities and needs compared to adults. As a result, children’s experiences, relationships and environment can have a deep influence on the child’s developmental process and may play a considerable role in shaping their lives and therefore, special care and attention are necessary to foster a harmonious development. Considering all this, being aware of the potential lifelong impacts of violence on children, families, communities, and nations, is critical in order to design effective and child-sensitive reintegration plans.

Reintegration is a complex transitional process. It often requires the child to assume a new identity: from conducting his or her life in a conflict zone area and/or as part of a terrorist group, to becoming a constructive citizen, able to manage relationships peacefully. It can be difficult, demands time and long-term investment, but it is possible. For this purpose, it is critical to underpin a child-sensitive approach that recognizes children’s developmental stage, to provide children with meaningful opportunities to be heard in decisions that affect them, and to recognize that as children’s capacities evolve, they have the right to participate in shaping their individual plans for rehabilitation and reintegration. 


Q: How does UNODC support Central Asian and other Member States returning children of foreign fighters and those who have been recruited and exploited by terrorist groups?


A: Since 2015, UNODC, through its Global Programme to End Violence against Children, has been proactively supporting Member States in preventing and effectively responding to violence against children, including violence committed by terrorist and extremist groups, by delivering technical assistance to over 40 countries in 6 different regions, including Central Asia. This has been done through awareness raising activities, capacity-building initiatives, legal advisory services, and technical assistance needs assessments to identify needs, gaps and opportunities to strengthen existing laws, practices and the capacity of professionals dealing with this phenomenon. UNODC also supports the strengthening of inter-sectoral coordination mechanisms, facilitating  collaboration between the security sector and the child rights community, to ensure comprehensive and sustainable prevention and response strategies with respect to children associated with terrorist and violent extremist groups.

Based on the lessons learned through technical assistance provision, UNODC has developed a number of resources and tools to support the delivery of technical assistance in this area. In 2018, UNODC launched a Handbook, which provides overall guidance on the treatment of children associated with these groups, anchored in a thorough analysis of international law and available in Russian. Last year, we complemented it with three additional training manuals that focus on key areas of work: prevention of child recruitment, rehabilitation and reintegration, and justice responses, all of them also available in Russian.

These Manuals are designed as interactive tools for policy-makers and practitioners, geared towards answering their practical questions on the day-to day challenges they encounter, for example how to develop comprehensive individual reintegration plans with a child-sensitive approach that takes into account a child’s physical, psychological and emotional development, to deal with the impact of violence and trauma, enabling children to build resilience and facilitate their return to families and communities.

As a complementary resource, we produced the UNODC Roadmap on the Treatment of Children Associated with Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups, which elaborates key preventative, rehabilitative and reintegrative and justice principles for practitioners to consider when responding to the complex legal and socio-economic challenges posed by the phenomenon.


Interview is prepared by Ms. Vasilina Brazhko,

UNODC ROCA Communication and PR Specialist