Conclusion Paper: Management of Foreign Terrorist Fighters, Volunteers, and Their Families – 1st Thematic Panel Meeting

On 25th and 26th of March 2025 thematic panel ‘Management of Foreign Terrorist Fighters, Volunteers, and Their Families’ (FTF) held its first meeting in Brussels. Participants included the thematic panel coleaders, thematic panel members (including law enforcement, P/CVE practitioners, policy makers and academics). The aim of the meeting was to kickstart the work of the panel, brainstorm the state-of-art regarding the rehabilitation and reintegration of FTF across the Member States, Western Balkans and MENA regions and highlight the challenges which need addressing in going forward.

Some of the key outcomes of the meeting were:

• ONLINE PLATFORM: The workshop highlighted a need for an online platform which will consist of training modules and other relevant materials that end users from different sectors can use per their individual and their institutions needs. The platform can also be a place for end user exchanges and contacts.
• TOOLS FOR MINORS: Participants emphasised that there is a need for specialised set of tools tailored to the needs of minors - both those who were born in member states (and WB and MENA regions) and those born in the zones of conflict or in holding camps.
• WHOLE SOCIETY APPROACH: The challenges encountered in relation to FTFs and their families affect not just those individuals but whole communities around them. There is a need for network building between different stakeholders - including law enforcement, P/CVE practitioners, policy makers but also local communities and educational institutions.

This paper summarises the highlights of the discussions as well as preliminary recommendations that were formulated by the participants of the meeting. It also gives a brief overview of the next steps the work of the panel will take.