Doc follows mom’s bid to save daughter from ISIS
It was about as jarring a note as a mother could receive: “Mama, I’ve left to join ISIS.” It was also completely unexpected.
The note was left to a Montreal mother by her 19-year-old daughter in November 2014.
The mother has since spent the last three years tracking her daughter down in Syria and trying to bring her back home.
As perilous as this mission is, it probably won’t get any easier if the daughter gets home because she could face criminal charges as a consequence of leaving the country to join ISIS.
The plight of the mother is captured in gripping and heartbreaking fashion in the documentary The Way Out, which airs Sunday on CBC-TV and which will also be available to watch online Friday as of 5 p.m.
Out of fear of reprisals, the mother — whose face is blotted out in the doc — uses the pseudonym Saeeda, while her daughter is referred to as Amina.
It was tough enough for Saeeda to learn that the seemingly welladjusted Amina had bolted to join ISIS in Syria. But then came the news that Amina had married a German recruit — a likely suicide bomber with a reputation for being cruel — and that she had given birth to a daughter.
Undaunted by the overwhelming odds in getting Amina home again, Saeeda reached out to radicalization experts and militia members fighting ISIS in Syria to try to locate and reach out to her daughter.
Somewhat surprisingly, contact was not only made through text messages, but Saeeda also learned that Amina sought to escape the clutches of ISIS.
The concern, however, was that this could all be a trap and lead to even more sinister developments for Saeeda and Amina.
Filmmakers Michelle Shephard and David York were also undaunted following Saeeda as well as militia members and analysts through awfully dangerous terrain. There’s no shortage of drama in this doc, either, as Saeeda and the filmmakers later learned that the Kurdish bombing of the Syrian ISIS base in Raqqa led to Amina and her daughter being forced to leave and, soon after, that Amina had given birth to a second daughter.
The latest development is that Amina and her daughters are now in Kurdish territory and are apparently set to return to Montreal. But because of a commitment to have the documentary ready for airing this weekend, the film’s final outcome has not yet been completely resolved.
“This was quite the tense documentary to make, because we really didn’t know from the beginning where it was heading and where the ending might be,” says Shephard, award-winning Toronto Star journalist and codirector of the Emmy-nominated Guantanamo’s Child — based on her book about controversial Canadian detainee Omar Khadr.
“We were just committed to following the story and to see where it would take us. It turned out to be a longer process than what everyone had thought. We had some unexpected bumps along the way.
“But Saeeda was also very lucky in the sense that her daughter regretted going, was devastated by the choice she made and that she kept in touch with her mom. Lots of other young people go over and then disappear, or they’re quickly killed or they don’t want to come back. She was also lucky that this militia group was able to find Amina.”
Curiously, Amina isn’t even aware that a documentary about her mother’s mission has been made and is about to air.
“The film is primarily about the mom and what families go through when their children make these horrible mistakes,” Shephard says. “Our goal was to try to bring some understanding to this issue through this one intimate story and to try to tell a larger story. We hope the documentary sparks a debate that is reasoned. Any issue touching on national security and terrorism tends to be completely partisan and often ill-informed.”
Also playing a key role in the doc is Montreal academic Hicham Tiflati, who has spent considerable time studying Western Muslims who become radicalized. He also has contacts with militia members in Syria.
“It was a very dangerous situation, but we weren’t taking any chances that would make matters worse. Even though it took almost three years, we were really fortunate that we were able to reach out to a group in Raqqa — who were fighting ISIS, or what’s left of it. “
Saeeda always made it a point to keep Canadian and CSIS officials aware of developments, particularly with the possibility of criminal charges looming for Amina.
From his experience, Tiflati notes that it’s not that unusual for Western female teenagers to be initially smitten by ISIS ideology.
“There are so many cultural and religious issues that come into play for them,” he says.
“We really don’t know much about what led Amina to go there in the first place, but in the time she left, it was like ISIS’s golden age and they were producing all this misleading propaganda. But the reality is that as soon as they get to Syria, they see something quite different than what they saw online and they see they’ve made a terrible mistake.”
Depending on whether or not Amina faces charges, she will still face difficulties in adapting to life back here with her daughters. Yet because of the various resources and radicalization experts in Montreal, Tiflati and Shephard are hopeful.
“Still, we’re bracing for the reaction when she does get back,” Shephard says. “I don’t think it will be exactly similar to the Khadr case — which still resonates. But Amina’s case is also very challenging and complex. And, no doubt, people will be divided on what they think should happen to Amina.
“But, really, my heart goes out to her mom, who has been the one in the driver’s seat the entire time and has had to deal with so much already. Amina is so lucky to have such a strong, savvy mother who has gone and continues to go to such great lengths to get her back.”
The Way Out airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV and will also be available to watch online at cbc.ca/CBCDocsPOV on Friday as of 5 p.m.