RFTFs Initiative

The Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (RFTFs) Initiative builds inter-agency approaches to leverage a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to respond to the rehabilitation and reintegration of terrorist fighters. The Initiative supports the development of coherent national policies jointly pursued by policy-makers and practitioners at the local and national levels.

Under this Initiative, with support from the Government of the Netherlands, the IIJ spearheaded an important multi-phased bespoke programme in partnership with the Governments of Chad and Mali. The project supported the implementation of the GCTF’s Addendum to The Hague-Marrakech Memorandum on Good Practices for a More Effective Response to the FTF Phenomenon, with a focus on Returning FTFs, among other relevant GCTF good practices, tailored to the respective contexts of our partners.

Other projects under this Initiative have supported actions in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and implementation of the GCTF’s Good Practices on Addressing the Challenge of Returning Families of Foreign Terrorist Fighters.

With support from the

Government of Canada
Government of the Netherlands
Government of Switzerland
Government of the United Kingdom
Government of the United States
SPOTLIGHT
Rehabilitating and Reintegrating Terrorist Fighters: Chad and Mali

With generous support from the Government of the Netherlands, the IIJ designed and implemented an exciting multi-phased bespoke programme in partnership with the Governments of Chad and Mali. 

Through a series of tailored workshops, three each in Chad and Mali and a final joint workshop with practitioners from both countries, national practitioner representatives (judges, prosecutors, investigators, corrections officers, gendarmerie, social workers and religious leaders) have drafted recommendations for how to include rehabilitation and reintegration in their respective countries’ National CVE Policies and generated ideas for agency-specific Action Plans. Capacity-building with significant impact.

Watch our video for more on this important project.

In Action

International Meeting: Repatriating FTF and Displaced Persons from Northeast Syria

On 24-25 May, IIJ welcomed 55 practitioners (prosecutors, investigators, judges) and policymakers from 20 countries and nine international humanitarian organisations, including UN agencies and academic institutions, to a meeting on Repatriating Foreign Terrorist Fighters and Displaced...

IIJ RFTFs Initiative: Rehabilitating and Reintegrating TFs/RFTFs – Final Joint Workshop with Chad and Mali

In February 2020, the IIJ convened the final in a series of seven capacity-building workshops on Rehabilitating and Reintegrating RFTFs in Chad and Mali. The previous six capacity-building workshops (three each in Chad and Mali) focused...

IIJ RFTFs Initiative: Rehabilitating and Reintegrating TFs/RFTFs – Third Mali Workshop

In September 2019, the IIJ convened a workshop on National Policy and Interagency Cooperation in Bamako, Mali. The workshop brought together judges, prosecutors, investigators, correction officers, gendarmerie, social workers and religious leaders from various organisations in...

IIJ RFTFs Initiative: Rehabilitating and Reintegrating TFs/RFTFs – Third Chad Workshop

In June 2019, the IIJ convened a workshop in N’Djamena on Understanding and Effectively Addressing the Terrorist Fighter Phenomenon in Chad. The workshop brought together judges, prosecutors, investigators, corrections officers, social workers, psychologists and religious leaders from...

Practitioner Tools & Resources

Addendum to The Hague – Marrakech Memorandum on Good Practices for a More Effective Response to the FTF Phenomenon

IIJ – Hedayah Principles for Reintegrating Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs)

UN Security Council Resolution 2178

UN Security Council Resolution 2396