Islamic State Defectors Speaking Out More

As disillusioned as a recruit might become, he or she must go to great lengths to leave the Islamic State, Dr. Neumann said.

Isis supporters pose with rifles and a BMW, but life on the frontlines proved far less glamorous. The 58 defectors, seven of them women, spoke on separate occasions to various news organizations, including The New York Times, and the report compiles their testimony while providing context and analysis. There have been numerous stories detailing the circumstances that drove individuals to join the group or of how people were targeted online as potential recruits, but there have been relatively few accounts from defectors.

He notes that “Not every defector is a saint, and not all of them are ready or willing to stand in the public spotlight”. “But their narratives and arguments are still valuable because they are speaking from a position of authority and experience and credibility that no one else has”.

In the last two years, an estimated 20,000 foreigners, about a quarter of them European, have joined jihadist groups in the Middle East, the majority of them filling the ranks of the Islamic State, Dr. Neumann said.

Scots are among those who are known to have defected. Many governments with citizens that have left to fight with ISIL have taken steps to cancel passports and bar individuals from returning. Of the defectors surveyed by the researchers, two were British. “They were typically among the ones who had joined the group for material and “selfish” reasons, and quickly realized that none of the luxury goods and cars that they had been promised would materialize”, the report said.

A shortage of basic goods and annoying power outages. Others grew tired of what they saw as favoritism and mistreatment by commanders, or were disappointed that the life of a militant was far less exciting, or lucrative, than they had imagined.

For others, their experience in combat didn’t live up to their expectations of action and heroism.

Defectors criticised IS’s involvement in fighting against other Sunni rebels, while there were also accusations that IS had failed to confront the Assad regime in Syria.

The report added that defections from the group were “sufficiently frequent to shatter IS’s image as a united, cohesive and ideologically committed organisation”.

It added: “They demonstrate that IS is not the jihadist utopia that the group’s videos promise; and that many of its own fighters have deep concerns about the group’s strategy and tactics”.

The report suggests the pace of public defections has increased, with almost 60% of the cases reported in the first eight months of this year, and nearly a third in the three months to August.

Those who have left the group are considered by IS as apostates.

It describes the dangers defectors face in leaving IS territory, and the fear of reprisals and prosecution those who speak out face once they have escaped.

Entitled Victims, Perpetrators, Assets: the Narrative of Islamic State Defectors, the report says governments should “provide defectors with opportunities to speak out; assist them in resettlement and ensure their safety; and remove legal disincentives that prevent them from going public”.

A growing number of defectors from the so-called Islamic State are speaking publicly about their decision to leave, according to a new report.

“My main reason for leaving was that I felt that I wasn’t doing what I had initially come for and that’s to help in a humanitarian sense the people of Syria”, one former IS fighter said.

Russian military officials have confirmed that they are expanding and modernising a naval base at Tartous and an airbase in nearby Latakia, but have denied plans to intervene directly.

Netanyahu said he told Putin that Israel was determined “to stop the smuggling of weapons from Syria to the Hizbollah”.