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2019 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

3. Travel

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Abstract

This chapter explores the migration routes that have been used by “terrorist asylum-seekers”, as well as the timing and methods of movement across international borders. The available data suggest that the majority of individuals in the sample began their journeys in Syria or Iraq and came to Europe by way of the Balkans, primarily during 2015. In this respect, the movement of terrorists is found to have mirrored the broader flow of migrants. The same can be said regarding methods of travel, with terrorists relying upon smugglers, sometimes utilizing false documents—or having no documents at all—and being exposed to substantial hardship and risks on their journey. Although infiltration of Europe remains the primary concern, the chapter concludes with a discussion of exfiltration by terrorist asylum-seekers, which, though much less common, also has serious implications for European and international security.

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Footnotes
1
Note that these are not the same individuals who began their journeys in North Africa, some of whom went to Syria and came to Europe by way of the Balkans.
 
2
Frederico Moreno, “En kväll går Adnan in på småstadskrogen med en kockkniv i handen,” Expressen, April 2018, https://​www.​expressen.​se/​nyheter/​qs/​last-night/​last-night-in-angelholm/​; “Syrian Man Jailed for Two Years for Posting ISIS Propaganda on Facebook,” The Guardian, September 22, 2017, https://​www.​theguardian.​com/​uk-news/​2017/​sep/​22/​syrian-man-jailed-posting-isis-propaganda-facebook-stockport.
 
3
Gerhard Piper, “Terrorverdächtiger im Asylbewerberwohnheim,” Heise.de, August 16, 2015, https://​www.​heise.​de/​tp/​features/​Terrorverdaechti​ger-im-Asylbewerberwohn​heim-3374890.​html.
 
4
Note that no terrorist asylum-seekers within the current sample are known to have used the Western Mediterranean route from Morocco to Spain, which accounted for just 4% of irregular migrants to Europe from 2014 to 2017 (see United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Spain Arrivals Dashboard, UNHCR, Accessed July 15, 2018, https://​data2.​unhcr.​org/​en/​country/​esp).
 
5
Data for 2014 provided by IOM via private correspondence. For the years 2015 to 2017 see: International Organization for Migration, Mixed Migration Flows in the Mediterranean and Beyond: Compilation of Available Data and Information: Reporting Period 2015 (Vienna: IOM, 2016), http://​doe.​iom.​int/​docs/​Flows%20​Compilation%20​2015%20​Overview.​pdf; International Organization for Migration, Mixed Migration Flows in the Mediterranean and Beyond: Compilation of Available Data and Information: Reporting Period 2016 (Vienna: IOM, 2017), http://​migration.​iom.​int/​docs/​2016_​Flows_​to_​Europe_​Overview.​pdf; and International Organization for Migration, Migration Flows to Europe: 2017 Overview (Vienna: IOM, 2018), http://​migration.​iom.​int/​docs/​2017_​Overview_​Arrivals_​to_​Europe.​pdf.
 
6
Ibid.
 
7
Nick Squires, Matthew Holehouse, and Colin Freeman, “Macedonia Closes Its Border ‘Completely’ to Migrants” The Telegraph, March 9, 2016, https://​www.​telegraph.​co.​uk/​news/​worldnews/​europe/​macedonia/​12188826/​Macedonia-closes-its-border-completely-to-migrants.​html.
 
8
International Organization for Migration, op.cit.
 
9
“EU Anti-Terror Police to Track Extremists at Greece Camps,” F24, August 13, 2016, http://​www.​france24.​com/​en/​20160813-eu-anti-terror-police-track-extremists-greece-camps?​ref=​tw_​i; Frontex European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Risk Analysis for 2017 (Warsaw: Frontex, 2017), http://​frontex.​europa.​eu/​assets/​Publications/​Risk_​Analysis/​Annual_​Risk_​Analysis_​2017.​pdf; and Aspasia Papadopoulou, Elisa Maimone, Vicky Tsipoura, and Katerina Drakopoulou, The Implementation of the Hotspots in Italy and Greece: A Study (Amsterdam: Dutch Council for Refugees, 2016), https://​www.​ecre.​org/​wp-content/​uploads/​2016/​12/​HOTSPOTS-Report-5.​12.​2016.​.​pdf.
 
10
Marianna Karakoulaki and Dimitris Tosidis, “Closed Borders Boost People Smuggling Across Balkans,” Deutsche Welle, November 22, 2017, http://​www.​dw.​com/​en/​closed-borders-boost-people-smuggling-across-balkans/​a-41467977.
 
11
International Organization for Migration, op.cit.
 
12
Raf Sanchez, “Isil Lieutenant Arrested While Trying to Flee to Europe, Turkish Authorities Say,” The Telegraph, April 27, 2018, https://​www.​telegraph.​co.​uk/​news/​2018/​04/​27/​europol-strikes-heart-isil-seizing-servers/​.
 
13
Yiannis Souliotis, “Chechen Arrested in Athens Resists Order for Deportation to Russia,” Ekathimerini, October 16, 2014, http://​www.​ekathimerini.​com/​163916/​article/​ekathimerini/​community/​chechen-arrested-in-athens-resists-order-for-deportation-to-russia.
 
14
“Σωματοφύλακας του Άσαντ πριν προσχωρήσει στον ISIS ο τζιχαντιστής της Αλεξανδρούπολης,” News 247, October 22, 2017, http://​www.​news247.​gr/​koinonia/​somatofylakas-toy-asant-prin-proschorisei-ston-isis-o-tzichantistis-tis-alexandroypolis.​6522790.​html.
 
15
Ttti Beneduce, “Terrorismo a Napoli, arrestato gambiano legato all’Isis. Salvini: era pronto a uccidere, e il cattivo sarei io?” Corriere del Mezzogiorno, June 25, 2018, https://​corrieredelmezzo​giorno.​corriere.​it/​napoli/​cronaca/​18_​giugno_​25/​terrorismo-napoli-arrestato-rifugiato-gambia-era-pronto-un-attentato-3cdd07ee-7851-11e8-b5fb-cbd7a6f95825.​shtml; Dario Del Porto and Conchita Sannino, “Terrorismo, migrante del Gambia arrestato a Napoli. L’ordine via chat: ‘Lancia l’auto sulla folla’,” Repubblica, April 26, 2018, http://​napoli.​repubblica.​it/​cronaca/​2018/​04/​26/​news/​terrorismo_​un_​immigrato_​del_​gambia_​arrestato_​a_​napoli-194834474/​.
 
16
Tommaso Fregatti and Matteo Indice, “Nel mirino del jihadista in fuga c’era un centro commerciale di Genova,” La Stampa, April 26, 2018, http://​www.​lastampa.​it/​2018/​04/​26/​italia/​nel-mirino-del-jihadista-in-fuga-cera-un-centro-commerciale-di-genova-zgJc091nA4gSfDPk​OpWnRP/​pagina.​html.
 
17
Manfred Scherer and Moritz Kircher, “Prozess gegen Mamdoh A. Beginnt,” Nordbayerischer Kurier, February 5, 2018, http://​www.​nordbayerischer-kurier.​de/​nachrichten/​prozess-gegen-mamdoh-beginnt_​640588.
 
18
Alessia Candito “Terrorismo: scafista siriano arrestato in Calabria come jihadista,” Repubblica, November 5, 2016, http://​www.​repubblica.​it/​cronaca/​2016/​11/​05/​news/​terrorismo_​arrestato_​in_​calabria_​scafista_​jihadista-151384704/​; “Italy Links People Trafficking to Militants in Detention of Syrian,” Reuters, November 5, 2016, http://​www.​reuters.​com/​article/​us-italy-trafficking-militants-idUSKBN1300H4?​feedType=​RSS&​feedName=​worldNews&​utm.
 
19
Soren Seelow, “Sur la piste d’ ‘Hamza le sniper’,” Le Monde, November 11, 2017, accessed via Factiva.
 
20
Ibid.
 
21
Ibid.
 
22
By this time—as previously noted—members of ISIS’s external operations department had shown an interest in infiltrating migrant flows for more than a year and at least two of Abaaoud’s scouts (Mourad T. and Redouane Sebbar) had already succeeded in traversing the Balkans, having set out in December 2014 and March 2015, respectively. The fact that Abaaoud and others continued to try more conventional means (commercial flights using forged or borrowed passports) shows that they were nevertheless wary to go down this more difficult and dangerous path.
 
23
Lena Kampf and Georg Mascolo, “Der Mann, der den Drahtziehern der Pariser Anschläge half,” Suddeutsche Zeitung, February 17, 2017, http://​www.​sueddeutsche.​de/​politik/​islamischer-staat-der-mann-der-den-drahtziehern-der-pariser-anschlaege-half-1.​3383608; Seelow, “Sur la piste d’ ‘Hamza le sniper’,” op.cit.
 
24
Ibid.; Ibid.
 
25
Florian Flade, “Codename ‘Galaxy,’” Die Welt, February 16, 2017, https://​www.​welt.​de/​politik/​deutschland/​plus162112661/​Codename-Galaxy-Gab-es-eine-IS-Zelle-in-Schleswig-Holstein.​html; Jörg Diehl and Julia Jüttner, “Verteidigung durch Schweigen,” Der Spiegel, June 13, 2017, http://​www.​spiegel.​de/​politik/​deutschland/​terror-prozess-in-hamburg-mutmassliche-is-rekruten-schweigen-a-1151927.​html; and Boris Thiolay, “Attentats de Paris: révélations sur les trois Syriens arrêtés en Allemagne,” l‘Express, September 16, 2016, https://​www.​lexpress.​fr/​actualite/​societe/​attentats-de-paris-revelations-sur-les-trois-syriens-arretes-en-allemagne_​1831313.​html.
 
26
“Paris Attacks: Who Were the Attackers?” BBC News, April 27, 2016, http://​www.​bbc.​com/​news/​world-europe-34832512.
 
27
Anthony Faiola and Souad Mekhennet, “Tracing the Path of Four Terrorists Sent to Europe by the Islamic State,” Washington Post, April 22, 2016, https://​www.​washingtonpost.​com/​world/​national-security/​how-europes-migrant-crisis-became-an-opportunity-for-isis/​2016/​04/​21/​ec8a7231-062d-4185-bb27-cc7295d35415_​story.​html.
 
29
Europol, Migrant Smuggling in the EU (The Hague: Europol, 2016), 5, https://​www.​europol.​europa.​eu/​publications-documents/​migrant-smuggling-in-eu; Frontex European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Risk Analysis for 2017, 8, op.cit.
 
30
Milan Dinic and Amanda Holpuch, “Serbian Police Arrest Man with Syrian Passport Matching Paris Attacker’s,” The Guardian, November 17, 2015, https://​www.​theguardian.​com/​world/​2015/​nov/​17/​serbian-police-arrest-man-with-syrian-passport-matching-paris-attackers.
 
31
“ISIS Holds 11,100 Blank Syrian Passports: German Officials,” The Local, September 10, 2017, https://​www.​thelocal.​de/​20170910/​isis-holds-11100-blank-syrian-passports-german-officials.
 
32
Marcel Gyr, “Neue Fragen zur Schweizer IS-Zelle,” Neue Zürcher Zeitung, February 29, 2016, https://​www.​nzz.​ch/​schweiz/​bundesstrafgeric​ht-bellinzona-neue-fragen-zur-schweizer-is-zelle-ld.​5905.
 
33
“Moroccan Refugees to Portugal Suspected of Recruiting Terrorists for Daesh,” op.cit.
 
34
Nuno Tiago Pinto, “The Portugal Connection in the Strasbourg-Marseille Islamic State Terrorist Network,” CTC Sentinel 11, no. 10 (2018): 17–24, https://​ctc.​usma.​edu/​portugal-connection-strasbourg-marseille-islamic-state-terrorist-network/​; Private correspondence, December 21, 2018.
 
35
Fregatti and Indice, “Nel mirino del jihadista in fuga c’era un centro commerciale di Genova,” op.cit.
 
36
Marta F. Reis, “Terroristas que jogavam ao pião,” Sol, March 30, 2018, https://​sol.​sapo.​pt/​artigo/​606243/​terroristas-que-jogavam-ao-piao.
 
37
“TEK: 14 terrorista utazott át Magyarországon,” Demokrata, September 30, 2016, http://​www.​demokrata.​hu/​hir/​belfold/​tek-14-terrorista-utazott-magyarorszagon-0.
 
38
Thomas Hoisl, “Dieser Mann ist seit zwei Jahren in U-Haft, weil er mit IS-Terroristen im selben Flüchtlingsboot saß,” Vice, August 6, 2018, https://​www.​torial.​com/​en/​thomas.​hoisl/​portfolio/​349487; Thomas Hoisl and Martin Staudinger, “Zellenteiling,” Profil, December 11, 2017, https://​www.​torial.​com/​en/​thomas.​hoisl/​portfolio/​304105.
 
39
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Spain Arrivals Dashboard, op.cit.
 
40
Manuel Bewarder and Tim Röhn, “Migrationsrouten könnten sich in die Luft verlagern,” Die Welt, July 8, 2018, https://​www.​welt.​de/​politik/​ausland/​plus178950412/​Frontex-Direktor-Es-geht-nicht-darum-ob-NGOs-Frontex-oder-EU-Schiffe-im-Mittelmeer-retten.​html; Mladen Lakic, Dusica Tomovic, and Gjergj Erbara, “‘New Balkan Route’ for Migrants, Refugees Causes Alarm,” Balkan Insight, June 4, 2018, http://​www.​balkaninsight.​com/​en/​article/​region-on-alert-as-migrants-open-new-balkan-route-06-03-2018.
 
41
Respectively: cases #6, #22, #31 and #89, and cases #5, #25, #34, #43, #46, #74, #86 and #99 (see Appendix A).
 
42
“French Journalists Explain Escape of Terror Suspects,” BBC Monitoring, January 11, 2017, accessed via ProQuest.
 
43
Soren Seelow and Jean-Pierre Stroobants, “L’artificier en chef des attentats de Paris et de Bruxelles a été identifié,” Le Monde, March 9, 2017, accessed via LexisNexis Academic; Matthieu Suc, “Les commanditaires du 13-Novembre ont tous été éliminés,” Mediapart, November 6, 2018, https://​www.​mediapart.​fr/​journal/​international/​061118/​les-commanditaires-du-13-novembre-ont-tous-ete-elimines?​onglet=​full.
 
44
“Peshmerga Fighter Radicalised in UK Jailed for Planning to Join Islamic State,” Greenock Telegraph, January 3, 2017, http://​www.​greenocktelegrap​h.​co.​uk/​news/​14999341.​Refugee_​planned_​to_​fight_​for_​IS_​in_​Iraq_​after_​UK_​radicalisation/​; Tom Whitehead, “Illegal Immigrant ‘Plots to Leave and Join Isil’ After Just Nine Months in Sheffield,” Telegraph, May 27, 2016, http://​www.​telegraph.​co.​uk/​news/​2016/​05/​27/​illegal-immigrant-plots-to-leave-and-join-isil-after-just-nine-m/​.
 
45
Whitehead, “Illegal Immigrant ‘Plots to Leave and Join Isil’ After Just Nine Months in Sheffield,” op.cit.
 
46
“Peshmerga Fighter Radicalised in UK Jailed for Planning to Join Islamic State,” op.cit.
 
47
Forty-one per cent of individuals (or 33% of cases) involving attempted exfiltration were unsuccessful.
 
48
Note that Abdelhamid Abaaoud was also able to travel back forth between Europe and the Middle East; however, this was before he posed as a ‘refugee’.
 
49
Reis, “Terroristas que jogavam ao pião,” op.cit.
 
50
“La rete jihadista ceceno-balcanica in Italia ed Europa – by Giovanni Giacalone,” ITSTIME, August 14, 2017, http://​www.​itstime.​it/​w/​la-rete-jihadista-ceceno-balcanica-in-italia-ed-europa-by-giovanni-giacalone/​.
 
51
Ibid.
 
52
“Italy Arrests Chechen Man Accused of Fighting with ISIS,” The Miami Herald, July 8, 2017, http://​www.​miamiherald.​com/​news/​nation-world/​article160266669​.​html.
 
53
Anna Reimann and Christoph Reuter, “Wie Jaber Albakr zum Fanatiker wurde,” Der Spiegel, October 17, 2016, http://​www.​spiegel.​de/​politik/​deutschland/​jaber-albakr-wie-der-terrorverdaechti​ge-zum-fanatiker-wurde-a-1116952.​html; “Terrorverdächtiger war lange in der Türkei – auch in Syrien?” der Westen, October 11, 2016, http://​www.​derwesten.​de/​politik/​terrorverdaechti​ger-war-lange-in-der-tuerkei-auch-in-syrien-id12267378.​html.
 
54
Ibid.; Ibid.
 
55
Case #46.
 
56
Abdullah Bozkurt, “COMMENTARY — Turkey Intel-Linked ISIL Man Posed as a Refugee, Went Through Greece, Registered in Germany,” Stockholm Center for Freedom, May 11, 2017, http://​stockholmcf.​org/​turkey-intel-linked-isil-man-posed-as-a-refugee-went-through-greece-registered-in-germany/​.
 
57
Ibid.
 
58
Erk Acarer, “A Suspect of Ankara Massacre Released on Probation Despite All Evidence,” Birgün Daily, September 1, 2016, http://​www.​birgun.​net/​haber-detay/​a-suspect-of-ankara-massacre-released-on-probation-despite-all-evidence-126603.​html.
 
59
Bozkurt, “COMMENTARY — Turkey Intel-Linked ISIL Man Posed as a Refugee, Went Through Greece, Registered in Germany,” op.cit.
 
Literature
go back to reference “French Journalists Explain Escape of Terror Suspects.” BBC Monitoring, January 11, 2017, accessed via ProQuest. “French Journalists Explain Escape of Terror Suspects.” BBC Monitoring, January 11, 2017, accessed via ProQuest.
go back to reference Seelow, S. “Sur la piste d’ ‘Hamza le sniper’.” Le Monde, November 11, 2017, accessed via Factiva. Seelow, S. “Sur la piste d’ ‘Hamza le sniper’.” Le Monde, November 11, 2017, accessed via Factiva.
go back to reference Seelow, S., and J. Stroobants. “L’artificier en chef des attentats de Paris et de Bruxelles a été identifié.” Le Monde, March 9, 2017, accessed via LexisNexis Academic. Seelow, S., and J. Stroobants. “L’artificier en chef des attentats de Paris et de Bruxelles a été identifié.” Le Monde, March 9, 2017, accessed via LexisNexis Academic.
Metadata
Title
Travel
Author
Sam Mullins
Copyright Year
2019
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13338-2_3