UNIPATH STAFF
Kyrgyzstan has enlisted the help of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to strike a balance between reintegrating ex-foreign fighters and ensuring these one-time terrorist sympathizers don’t undermine Kyrgyz security.
Kyrgyz Justice Minister Marat Jamankulov and U.N. representatives met in June 2020 to discuss how the country can rehabilitate militants returning from conflict zones. Jamankulov has assigned implementation of the repatriation plan to the country’s State Penitentiary Service and Ministry of Justice.
Speaking at the meeting, Jamankulov expressed hopes that Kyrgyzstan would develop a system combining oversight by probation officers with rehabilitation led by social workers. Although rehabilitation of returnees received the greatest focus, Kyrgyzstan is also considering increasing prison time for citizens who trained as terrorists to fight as mercenaries in foreign wars.
In February 2020, the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan submitted a bill to increase prison time for such fighters to 5-7 years from the current 2-5 years. According to internal statistics, about 850 people from Kyrgyzstan were lured to war zones in Syria and Iraq, including women and children.
Sources: Vesti.kg, Acca Media, Central Asia News