MONTREAL—A new study of Canadians and other westerners who joined the ranks of the terror group Daesh in Syria and Iraq urges authorities to work more closely with families as a means of staying abreast of the activities of radicalized individuals and potentially countering their dangerous mindset.Co-author Amarnath Amarasingam said in an interview that families are often treated as intelligence assets by police and government agents rather than what they typically are, which is blindsided and traumatized victims battling depression, anxiety, despair and self-doubt. Education, empathy and support from officials can empower families and turn them into useful partners.“As the war winds down ... a lot of these guys are going to try to leave and it would be important from a national security perspective to keep in touch and know where they’re going,” said Amarasingam said, adding he has already seen fighters shifting away from Syria and toward other conflict zones in Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan. “Parents can be useful resources in that respect if they’re willing to share intel — and they usually are.”The study was done by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue based in London, England, led by Canadians Amarnath Amarasingam and Lorne Dawson, who are running a study of western foreign fighters out of the University of Waterloo.Of the 30 so-called foreign fighters interviewed for the study, nearly three-quarters said they maintained contact with family and friends back home, the report noted. Twenty-seven interview subjects were men, while three were women. Eleven of them were Canadian.One of them was Shayma Senouci, a young student from Montreal who disappeared in mid-January 2015 along with several other young Quebec Muslims.Senouci slipped out of the country on a flight bound for Turkey with no indication that anything was amiss, except a Jan. 15, 2015 posting looking to sell a silky white graduation dress for $300.B ...
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