Milo Comerford on the presence of former ISIS fighters in IDP camps

ISD’s Director of Policy and Research, Milo Comerford, spoke to iNews as part of an investigation on long-term challenges 10 years after the rise of the Islamic State. Thousands remain in camps for internally displaced people (IDP) across Iraq for alleged or confirmed links to ISIS, a situation described by Milo as a problem which has failed to meaningfully progress in the last five years.  

Regarding the rehabilitation and reintegration of ISIS affiliates, Milo states that “restorative justice [is] easy to talk about, but it’s going to be a long, hard fight. And obviously, that’s layered over sectarian challenges. But ultimately, there’s no other option. You can’t just keep people locked up indefinitely. These IDP camps are completely unsustainable.”  

With regards to the foreign fighters who arrived in Iraq and Syria to join the ranks of ISIS, now languishing indefinitely in a legal grey area, Milo adds that “it’s not Iraq and Syria’s problem to deal with the issues of Western countries that need to be dealt with in their courts and with their justice systems.”