Denmark’s jihadist rehab: school, sport and Islam

More on the Danish approach (see earlier post Denmark tries a soft-handed approach to returned Islamist fighters, sending them to therapy, not jail):

Belying its reputation as a harmonious, wealthy country, Denmark has the second largest number of foreign fighters in Syria relative to its size among Western nations, behind only Belgium, according to an estimate by The Economist magazine.

The young men Mads works with grew up in places like the sprawling Gellerupparken, a dreary housing estate where four out of five are from immigrant homes.

With its graffiti, crumbling concrete and broken glass it is a far cry from Denmark’s wealthy image — and only a short walk from Grimhøj mosque, which has gained notoriety for refusing to denounce the ultra-radical Islamic State (Isis).

This may help explain why in a city like Aarhus, with just 324,000 residents, as many as 30 people have gone to fight in Syria.

At least 100 Danes have taken part in Syria’s bloody civil war, according to estimates by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET). At least 16 have been killed, and roughly 50 have returned home.

Faced with this challenge, Denmark is offering rehabilitation programmes to would-be fighters — and most controversially of all, even helps those returning from Syria.

A young man who came back from Syria was “shaken” and had seen things “that weren’t quite normal for a regular young Danish guy,” Mads said. The two started out by talking about football. But the real objective was to prevent him from returning to Syria, and to motivate him to finish his education.

“Those were our primary targets, and they succeeded,” Mads said, with a hint of pride.

It is part of a two-pronged approach — slapping travel bans on radicalised youths and jailing them if they break them, but also investing in preventive measures.

Denmarks jihadist rehab: school, sport and Islam – The Local.