2. Jihadist Infiltration of Europe Since 2011: An Overview

This chapter begins with an assessment of the scale of terrorist infiltration of recent migration flows, finding that although the real number is considerably higher than can actually be identified, it nevertheless remains far less than 1% of the total number of recent asylum-seekers. Focusing on those that have been identified, Mullins proceeds to break down the sample in terms of “individual classifications” (i.e. the type of allegations that have been made against each person) and “confidence ratings” (the degree of confidence that they were both terrorists and asylum-seekers). Status within the asylum system is then examined in greater detail, followed by the geographic distribution and nationality of “terrorist asylum-seekers” in Europe. The chapter concludes with a discussion of demographic and personal characteristics of individuals in the sample, including gender, age, marital status, criminal history and mental health.