The clinic where jihadis go to mend their ways
One-time jihadists who have seen the light are being offered the chance of a new life by a clinic in Syria
In a rehabilitation centre in northern Syria, young men huddle over an innocuous game of chess and cigarettes – activities they once brutally suppressed as ISIL fighters.
In the rebel-held town of Marea, the Syrian Centre for Countering Extremist Ideology is home to about 100 one-time ISIL fighters from Syria, the Middle East and even Europe.
“I used to dream of establishing an Islamic state ... but now, we take courses that clear up what’s wrong with what we once believed,” said 23-year-old Mohammad Haj Ahmad.
Ahmad is from Raqqa, the northern city that served as the de facto capital of a now collapsed jihadist “caliphate” that sprawled across Syria and Iraq.
He joined ISIL in 2014 and took part in one of its most gruesome battles, at Tabqa airport near Raqqa, where the extremists executed more than 200 army troops.
“I was convinced by their slogans about jihad, that they were the only ones implementing religion correctly, and that everyone else was an infidel and an apostate,” he said.
Now, Ahmad and fellow former jihadists are undergoing rehabilitation courses aimed at washing away extremist habits so they can eventually reintegrate into society. Ahmad does not know what he will do once he is cleared to leave.
The two-storey centre in Marea opened on October 27.
“We founded the centre because of the many fighters coming to northern parts of Aleppo province after the collapse of ISIL, which created a security problem,” said its head, Hussein Nasser.
Some lodgers checked in voluntarily. Others are undergoing therapy as part of the jail sentences dished out by rebel authorities for joining ISIL.
They are split into categories: short-term ISIL fighters; those who fought heavily or for an extended period; and foreigners – from Tunisians to Uzbeks.
Treatment lasts up to six months, which can be renewed, Mr Nasser said.
The administrators, doctors, and activists who run the centre co-ordinate with rebel authorities.
“The centre’s lecturers provide an assessment to judicial authorities, who decide if the person can be integrated into society or not,” Mr Nasser said.
The centre is financed locally, but is seeking funds to take in more foreigners and open a branch for female ISIL members.
Inside, patients shuffle into classrooms for group and individual therapy sessions as well as courses on Islamic law, civil rights, and psychology.
Some have beards and others are clean-shaven. Most wear an unofficial uniform of bright sweatshirts under vests.
“The courses are similar to corrective treatment, giving them positive outlooks on themselves,” said Abdulkarim Darwish, the centre’s psychosocial therapist.
Mr Darwish listens to their life stories, then runs therapy sessions to identify what social factors led them to join ISIL.
During breaks, the former jihadists pray, eat modest meals on mattresses in a windowless room and play chess – one of the many forms of entertainment ISIL considered un-Islamic – or spend time with their wives and children, who also stay at the centre.
“I never thought I would turn into a jihadist,” said Hawas Al Ali, 26, who quit his job as a cook in northern Iraq last year and moved to east Syria.
He joined an ISIL police unit deployed to bolster wavering jihadist fighting battalions.
“My aim was the victory of Islam, but after a while I began thinking about returning to civilian life, society, my relatives and children,” Al Ali said.
He checked into the centre and is now excited about returning “to my life before ISIL”.
Al Ali fears being arrested if he returns to Iraq, so for now is stuck in northern Syria and may travel to Turkey.
Ashraf Nasir, 24, said he is ready to again become an active member of a society that ISIL once terrorised.
“I’m an essential part of society – I didn’t come from under a rock, even though I joined ISIL,” he said. The problem, Nasir said, will lie in “how society will accept us”.
Going home will be even harder for foreigners such as Muslim Gadzhimetov.
The Ukrainian entered Syria last year, coming from Turkey to join ISIL and this year was detained by rebels.
Gadzhimetov says he decided to defect when he learnt of the atrocities committed by ISIL against other Muslims.
“I consider myself guilty for this,” he said. “Of course I want to socialise, I want to return to civilian life. I dream about this life.”