Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – Former Islamic State (IS) jihadists who have returned to Sweden are now working with children, young people, and the vulnerable, according to an investigation led by Swedish newspaper Expressen. The article—quoted by Euractiv—states that of the 83 people identified as having returned to Sweden from Islamic State-controlled territory, 21 are working in leisure centres, preschools, and social services. In total, 24 of these ex-IS fighters have found work with public employers despite several warnings from the security services that returnees can contribute to radicalisation and recruitment in Sweden.
According to Säpo, the Swedish intelligence service, about 300 Swedes or Swedish residents, a quarter of whom are women, joined IS in Syria and Iraq, mostly in 2013 and 2014, when large swathes of the two countries were under the control of the terrorist group. Of the recruits from Sweden, 75% were Swedish citizens and 34% were born in Sweden. Speaking in 2021, Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at the Swedish Defence University, told AFP that around half of them had returned.
