Olfa Hamrouni’s story has been well covered by the Tunisian press. She has appeared on local television, and has taken her case to Tunisia’s government.
I met Olfa in her tiny ground floor flat in Mornag, South of Tunis. She lives opposite an over flowing rubbish tip, the stench is unbelievable, and despite the heat, Olfa has to shut her windows, to keep out the smell of rotting food. She says it is the only place she could find. Nobody wants to help a mother with two daughters who are members of ISIL.
Her giggly, shy, youngest girls welcome our team, they seem used to their mother speaking in front of them about their sister’s “radicalisation”. Olfa remembers her daughters listening to hard rock and playing the guitar. Then a preacher set up a tent down the road, and almost overnight they wanted to switch off the music and the soap operas on the television. Olfa cannot explain what attracted her daughters to a doctrine that wants to force change through violence.
Olfa comes from a poor family, and she is religious, and at first she welcomed the change in her daughters, who decided to take Islam seriously. However, she became concerned when they started talking about joining the group in Libya. Olfa turned to the police for help; and they detained and questioned her child, but said they could not do anything else.
She says the government is reticent to speak openly about the issue of recruitment of young women and men.
We also felt their reluctance when our request to interview the Minister of Women Affairs was rejected; the press office’s response was that “this is not the time to speak about such matters.” I wonder that if this is not the time, then when is? Tunisia has a big problem; around 700 women and girls have joined the ranks of ISIL. In the end, Neji Jalloul, Tunisia’s charismatic Minister of Education agreed to talk to us about this worrying phenomenon. However, beyond advocating for cultural classes to give children a sense of belonging to their family and their nation, there is very little being done to counter the recruiters message.
Tunisia remains in a state of emergency as the spillover of violence from Libya has led to an increase in attacks on civilians and military posts. Tunisian mosques used to be a recruiting ground until the government shut down those deemed to be preaching hate. The battle for young minds is now fought mainly on the Internet. Mohamed Khelil, Tunisia’s Minister of Religious Affairs says the government’s launched a campaign on Facebook. He wants to recruit, “an army of Facebookers”, who will be trained in “Islamic law, so they can fight ideas with ideas and evidence.”
It sounds good in theory, but again it does not address the issue of why a proportionally high number of Tunisians have joined armed groups. Mohamed Iqbal Ben Rejeb offers support and advice, to the families of those who have gone to fight. Mohamed says that most of those who have returned from fighting abroad, or are involved in the group at home, are jailed. He is concerned that jail is not a long-term solution, and that rehabilitation is the only way forward.
“If you put a person in jail for one year, or even one hundred years, when they are released, without rehabilitation or integration, they will return to that same ideology.”
Mohamed suggests a religious education school or centre, which would counter the “false” ideas taught to those who have joined violent groups, with a true version of islam, based on facts.
He also has no doubt that more Tunisian women would have joined ISIL if it was not so difficult for a young women to travel without permission from a male relative.
Tunisia has placed thousands of people on travel ban list. Since my report was aired, Olfa, who was also on that list, has been told she can finally travel to Libya to see her daughters who are being detained in the capital Tripoli, and possibly return with her six-month-old granddaughter.
Olfa realises her daughters will probably spend most of their lives in prison. Her biggest concern now is protecting her two youngest girls. They were deeply effected by what their sisters have done, and have spoken about joining them in Libya. Olfa says the only help she has received is from a centre for vulnerable children in Mornag. A psychologist there, has been speaking to her children, and Olfa has seen a positive change in their behaviour. It is a shame that Olfa is one of the few people willing to talk about this controversial issue, most families are too afraid to speak out. What is clear is that far more needs to be done, to address the root causes of recruitment, as well as its impact on families, torn apart by this group and ideology.