ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on foreign Islamic extremists who are active in the Syrian conflict moment in 2015. Islamic extremist groups like the Islamic State (IS) attracted and absorbed these foreigners (Muhajiroun) from at least 86 countries. The mechanisms for the transnational movement of Muhajiroun and their infiltration into war zones were developed through the experiences of foreign fighters in Iraq (2005–2007) and Syria (2011 ̶ ). Several actors are active in these mechanisms, and some of these actors played an important role outside of the war zone. Particularly, IS utilised writers in social networking services to disseminate its propaganda materials for recruiting Muhajiroun. As such, this study examined the mechanism of Muhajiroun’s transnational movement giving consideration to IS’s modification of the mechanism. The external factors also enabled the operation of the mechanism of Muhajiroun’s transnational movement. In the current crisis, neighbouring countries came to view Syria primarily through the lens of geopolitics and this is what facilitated transnational movement. The prime examples of this tendency are Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey, with the latter playing a critical role as the transit country for Muhajiroun. Without these geopolitical circumstances, effective transnational movement of the Muhajiroun would have been quite difficult.
