IMPACT Europe Presentation at UNICRI – INTERPOL Event

On 24 and 25 May 2016, the United Nations  Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and INTERPOL hosted an international workshop on Responding to the Threat of Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) in Turin, Italy. The event saw the participation of criminal justice and counter-terrorism experts from government, academia, think tanks, law enforcement agencies, NGOs and local authorities.

The participation of representatives from more than 22 countries and from international organisations such as the International Centre for Counter-terrorism, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the United Nations Development Programme provided a global perspective on the challenges and opportunities faced by countries trying to respond to the threat of returning FTFs.

In particular, sessions on the first day focussed on recent trends and developments observed in the return of FTFs, on emerging practices for their rehabilitation and reintegration in custodial and non-custodial settings, and on other measures adopted for countering the threat they pose. On the second day of the event, participants engaged in a solutions-oriented analysis of regional case studies outlining different scenarios and challenges posed by FTFs.

Contributing to discussions on the challenges and opportunities experienced by those seeking to ensure the rehabilitation and reintegration of FTFs, Jacopo Bellasio (RAND Europe) from the IMPACT Europe team gave a presentation on the IMPACT Europe project. Jacopo outlined key gaps in knowledge identified within the field of CVE – evidence of effectiveness, promising practice, and practitioner knowledge and understanding of program evaluation – which have guided the research undertaken by the IMPACT Europe consortium.

[Image shared by Fèlix González via Flickr; CC BY 2.0]