Inside the Foreign Fighter Pipeline to Syria: A Case Study of a Portuguese Islamic State Network

A detailed case study of a Portuguese Islamic State network with strong connections to the United Kingdom sheds significant light on the foreign fighter recruitment pipeline between Europe and Syria. Several of the men involved in the network made two trips to Syria. On January 9, 2013, British authorities informed their Portuguese counterparts that at least two Portuguese citizens were involved in the (first) kidnapping of British journalist John Cantlie in Syria. That information opened a seven-year investigation, recently closed, in which the Portuguese Judiciary Police were able to follow in real time the preparations, contacts, and final travel to Syria of a group of Islamist extremists, including their wives and children, who would join what became the Islamic State. Investigators established how they financed themselves through the creation of fictitious applications for student loans and welfare benefits in the United Kingdom. They used that money to travel but also to recruit and help young British extremists make their way into Syria, using Lisbon as transit point. But investigators were not able to shut down the pipeline because foreign fighter travel would only become a crime under Portuguese law in 2015, underlining the importance of such legislation. Several members of the network are presumed dead, while others face trial in Portugal. The most senior alleged member of the network, Nero Saraiva, was transferred from Syria to Iraq where he could face trial or extradition to Portugal. Saraiva allegedly became close to the Islamic State group known as the 'Beatles' and appears to have had advanced knowledge of the execution of the American journalist James Foley.
Message to America. The Islamic State is making a new movie. Thank u for the actors.' Posted on Twitter and Facebook on July 10, 2014, by Nero Saraiva, a self-professed [...]