Foreign Terrorist Fighters Knowledge Hub
The Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTF) Knowledge Hub (the Hub) was conceived in 2016 as a mechanism to enable GCTF Members to learn systematically by sharing data and exchanging experiences and good practices.
The Hub was part of the GCTF website and required GCTF Members and other users to have a username and password to access it.
The goals of the Hub were to:
The 2016 data in the Hub was gathered from survey questions sent to all GCTF Members. Between 13 and 21 GCTF Members (depending on sections of the Hub) responded to these questions, so information in the Hub was never complete. The password-protected status of this section of the website also significantly limited the audience for this information.
The Hub had not been updated since its creation but in 2020 the Asser Institute received U.S. grant funds to update the content as part of a larger overhaul of the GCTF website. The United States and Jordan (as co-chairs of the FTF Working Group), then-GCTF co-chairs Canada and Morocco, and the GCTF Administrative Unit had subsequent conversations and exchanged proposals and drafts on the way forward with Asser and partner the International Center for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT). In determining how to update the Hub, it was agreed to update country-specific information using credible open-source data and to make website content available without a username/password. To continue the exchange and analysis of trends and dynamics within the FTF phenomenon, the site would continue to include a wide variety of resources related to FTFs including international standards and guidance, instruments from regional organizations, and other guidelines, recommendations, and good practices. The site content would also be open to contributions from other countries and updates via the Asser Institute and ICCT.
The data schema includes a breakdown of FTFs departed from or have returned from a particular country. There is also information on policy measures utilized or available in response to the FTF phenomenon and statistics on efforts related to reintegrating returning FTFs and their families to their communities, as available. In the course of gathering updated information and data, it became clear the audience could be broader than GCTF Member States, and so should not be exclusive on the GCTF website. Given this evolution in the content, the Hub will be hosted separately from the GCTF on a dedicated website. ICCT and Asser hope to encourage broader use and additional submissions of other data and information. The website includes a full explanation of the data collection methodology, and a contact email for submissions. As stated in the “About” section of the site, the information is independent from the GCTF and non-binding.
The new Hub is available at: https://www.foreignterroristfighters.info/