Returning from ISIS

Contemporary Issues

Teachers and helpers set up for a child's quiz in the playroom of a rehabilitation center for former ISIS wives, in Aktau, Kazakstan, Monday July 22, 2019. The Kazakh government converted an old day camp into a "rehabilitation center". There, the women, who usually come with their children, get treatment from psychologists and moderate Muslim imams intended to cure their radicalism and re-integrate them into society.

The Islamic State has lost its territory in Syria and Iraq and thousands of fighters and their families have been captured or dispersed. There are growing fears that the remnants could bring terrorism home with them.

More than 12,000 foreign women and children are detained in Syria and Iraq. This poses a difficult quandary for their home countries, most of which have refused to repatriate their citizens. I followed Turkish children who returned home to their grandparents and Kazakh women with their kids who were allowed to come back to their families, for The NY Times.

One of the pictures from this photo project was featured in the year in pictures for The NY Times.