Islamic State recruiters are targeting vulnerable refugees in Europe to radicalise them in an effort to further polarise the European Union population, counter-terror experts have warned.
Europol, the law enforcement agency of the EU, said it was in the interests of Islamic State to inflame the migration crisis and to turn EU citizens against refugees seeking asylum.
A number of jihadis are already travelling through Europe for this purpose and German authorities were aware of about 300 recorded attempts to recruit refugees trying to enter Europe by April 2016, Europol said in its report, Changes in Modus Operandi of IS revisited.
“Given that it is in the interests of IS (Islamic State) to inflame the migration crisis to polarise the EU population and turn sections of it against those seeking asylum, there is a risk of some infiltration of refugee camps and other groups,” the report published on Friday said. “A real and imminent danger is the possibility of elements of the (Sunni Muslim) Syrian refugee diaspora becoming vulnerable to radicalisation once in Europe and being specifically targeted by Islamic extremist recruiters.”
However, Europol said the extent of such infiltration was unknown, making the subject susceptible to exaggeration and exploitation by populist factions and extreme rightwing parties.
In the same report, Europol warns that as Islamic State is defeated or severely weakened by coalition forces in its former stronghold of Syria and Iraq, there may be an increase in the number of foreign fighters and their families returning from the region to Europe.
The agency said further attacks in the EU, both by lone actors and groups of terrorists, were likely to be attempted – with estimates from some intelligence services suggesting that several dozen people directed by Islamic State might be currently in Europe with a capability to commit terrorist attacks.
Gilles de Kerchove, EU counter-terrorism coordinator, said: “We have to be vigilant, since the threat posed by the so-called Islamic State and returning foreign fighters is likely to persist in the coming years. These people are trained to use explosives and firearms and they have been indoctrinated by the jihadist ideology.”
