Remarks by Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), on foreign terrorist fighters during the Security Council meeting on Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.
Michele Coninsx, Executive Director of Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), said the international community could be in “no doubt that the threat from ISIL continues to evolve and to pose significant challenges to all actors involved in countering it.” She said even though the number of returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) has not been as high as some had feared, their unique situation nonetheless poses a range of challenges to countries having experienced difficulties in conducting comprehensive risk assessments for returnees and their accompanying families.
Coninsx noted that the prosecution of returning and relocating FTFs also faced various evidentiary and jurisdictional challenges adding that a revision of the existing legal framework was required in some cases. She added that a significant number of FTFs have already entered the criminal justice system in some countries which raised increasing concerns about the potential for in-prison radicalization.
