Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – Express reported that, From 2014 estimated 900 British citizens went to join the ISIS terror group in Syria and Iraq.
Some have been attempting to return home after the group’s self-styled ‘Caliphate’ crushed.
Certain cases, particularly that of Shamima Begum, who left the UK to join ISIS aged just 15, have attracted widespread public attention.
However Liam Duffy, a strategic advisor to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), argued we must focus on the victims of ISIS like the Yazidi community.Speaking to Express.co.uk Mr Duffy hit out at the “celebritisation” of western ISIS recruits.
He contrasted “the plight of the Yazidis and the situation they’re living in now” with “westerners who joined ISIS, who in some cases are living in much more comfortable conditions than their victims”.
Mr Duffy added: “I just wish as much attention was given to the people they tormented as to the tormenters. “I think there’s a real problem of celebritisation of people who joined ISIS.
“We’ve inverted the victim/aggressor relationship a little bit to make these people sound more like the victims. “They were recruited therefore they’ve a victim which is really morally unserious. “What happened to the Yazidis doesn’t fit neatly into a narrative that can be politicised or weaponised.
“In some ways it’s the wrong type of victim, the wrong type of perpetrator.”
According to Lord David Pannick QC of the UK ISIS volunteers around 40 percent have returned to the UK, 20 percent were killed in battle whilst the rest are still in Syria and Iraq.
