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| 'I gave birth after my husband's death': Syrians who wed foreign fighters | 'I gave birth after my husband's death': Syrians who wed foreign fighters |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| “I got married to a foreign fighter from the Maldive Islands in 2016 and he was killed in the clashes against regime forces in the same year. I was pregnant by this man and then I gave birth three months after his death.” | “I got married to a foreign fighter from the Maldive Islands in 2016 and he was killed in the clashes against regime forces in the same year. I was pregnant by this man and then I gave birth three months after his death.” |
| For this 30-year-old woman from Maaret al-Nu’man, in Idlib province, insecurity had driven her to marry. “My parents had been killed in an airstrike by the regime. As a result, I kept on moving among my five married brothers’ places but mostly at the oldest brother’s house. I wasn’t feeling comfortable on account of instability and I was feeling that I was such a dependent woman. I decided to get married.” | For this 30-year-old woman from Maaret al-Nu’man, in Idlib province, insecurity had driven her to marry. “My parents had been killed in an airstrike by the regime. As a result, I kept on moving among my five married brothers’ places but mostly at the oldest brother’s house. I wasn’t feeling comfortable on account of instability and I was feeling that I was such a dependent woman. I decided to get married.” |
| Stories like this one are not uncommon in parts of Syria. But a grassroots campaign, called Who Is Your Husband?, is aiming to discourage Syrian women from having relationships with overseas combatants, and trying to educate the public – through posters and graffiti – about the challenges these women and their children face. | Stories like this one are not uncommon in parts of Syria. But a grassroots campaign, called Who Is Your Husband?, is aiming to discourage Syrian women from having relationships with overseas combatants, and trying to educate the public – through posters and graffiti – about the challenges these women and their children face. |
| Syrian women cannot pass their citizenship on to their husbands or children | Syrian women cannot pass their citizenship on to their husbands or children |
| Overseas fighters have been drawn to Syria since the start of the conflict, hoping to join the extremist groups that have come to prominence there, some affiliated with al-Qaida and Islamic State. | Overseas fighters have been drawn to Syria since the start of the conflict, hoping to join the extremist groups that have come to prominence there, some affiliated with al-Qaida and Islamic State. |
| Women who marry these fighters take on several burdens. Syrian women cannot pass their citizenship on to their husbands. While a foreign woman can become a Syrian citizen if she marries a Syrian man, the reverse is still not true. | Women who marry these fighters take on several burdens. Syrian women cannot pass their citizenship on to their husbands. While a foreign woman can become a Syrian citizen if she marries a Syrian man, the reverse is still not true. |
| And Syrian citizenship is passed down paternally. Even if a child born to a Syrian mother and a foreign father has never known any other home, he or she isn’t entitled to the rights and privileges bestowed on Syrian citizens. There have been efforts to change the law, but for now it remains. | And Syrian citizenship is passed down paternally. Even if a child born to a Syrian mother and a foreign father has never known any other home, he or she isn’t entitled to the rights and privileges bestowed on Syrian citizens. There have been efforts to change the law, but for now it remains. |
| There’s also the stigma attached to the wives and widows of non-Syrian jihadists. “Those foreign fighters who get killed, disappear or escape, leave behind their children and wives, and this affects them very badly,” says Asem Zidan, founder of Who Is Your Husband? “Their social life is affected.” | There’s also the stigma attached to the wives and widows of non-Syrian jihadists. “Those foreign fighters who get killed, disappear or escape, leave behind their children and wives, and this affects them very badly,” says Asem Zidan, founder of Who Is Your Husband? “Their social life is affected.” |
| The woman from Maaret al-Nu’man, who asked not to have her name used out of fear for her safety and social retribution, supports this claim. | The woman from Maaret al-Nu’man, who asked not to have her name used out of fear for her safety and social retribution, supports this claim. |
| “Girls used to say, ‘How on earth did you accept to marry this person? You would have found better than him and more beautiful,’” she says. | “Girls used to say, ‘How on earth did you accept to marry this person? You would have found better than him and more beautiful,’” she says. |
| “My relatives were also against this marriage because in their opinion … he was a strange person and [they] no idea about his history, and most importantly he was a member [of] Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,” the woman says. | “My relatives were also against this marriage because in their opinion … he was a strange person and [they] no idea about his history, and most importantly he was a member [of] Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,” the woman says. |
| Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is a coalition of several organisations including Jabhat al-Nusra, which was formerly linked with al-Qaida. | Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is a coalition of several organisations including Jabhat al-Nusra, which was formerly linked with al-Qaida. |
| Reasons for marrying foreign fighters are nuanced and varied; some women feel they have no other options. Others are excited to marry someone they see as brave and heroic. | Reasons for marrying foreign fighters are nuanced and varied; some women feel they have no other options. Others are excited to marry someone they see as brave and heroic. |
| But Who Is Your Husband? is trying to help Syrian women in Idlib and the Aleppo area understand the risks. | But Who Is Your Husband? is trying to help Syrian women in Idlib and the Aleppo area understand the risks. |
| Zidan says that since the campaign started in December of 2017, their team of 150 volunteers has recorded 1,735 women in Idlib and west of Aleppo who have married foreign fighters. And 1,124 of those women have had 1,826 children between them. | Zidan says that since the campaign started in December of 2017, their team of 150 volunteers has recorded 1,735 women in Idlib and west of Aleppo who have married foreign fighters. And 1,124 of those women have had 1,826 children between them. |
| Children bear 'disproportionate lethal impact' of Syrian war, warns study | Children bear 'disproportionate lethal impact' of Syrian war, warns study |
| One of the volunteers, who asked not to be named due to fears of retribution from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), said that the team hopes to stop the phenomenon, but that they had faced threats from the group. “HTS tried to trace the working team to find out their real identity; some foreign fighters pulled off the posters and then tore them up in the city of Ariha,” he says. | One of the volunteers, who asked not to be named due to fears of retribution from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), said that the team hopes to stop the phenomenon, but that they had faced threats from the group. “HTS tried to trace the working team to find out their real identity; some foreign fighters pulled off the posters and then tore them up in the city of Ariha,” he says. |
| Another goal of the campaign is to help the children born of such unions to be recognised by their local councils. In rebel-held areas, these councils are the only means by which children can gain official documentation for receiving vaccinations and enrolling in school. | Another goal of the campaign is to help the children born of such unions to be recognised by their local councils. In rebel-held areas, these councils are the only means by which children can gain official documentation for receiving vaccinations and enrolling in school. |
| Abdulrahim Hamadi is the head of the local council in Kafr Rumah, in Idlib. He says that while most people in his town discourage their female relatives from marrying overseas combatants, their concerns are mostly in the immediate future, such as the risk of a prospective husband dying in combat. “[Their advice] is not about the future – like the children’s rights and their nationalities,” he says. | Abdulrahim Hamadi is the head of the local council in Kafr Rumah, in Idlib. He says that while most people in his town discourage their female relatives from marrying overseas combatants, their concerns are mostly in the immediate future, such as the risk of a prospective husband dying in combat. “[Their advice] is not about the future – like the children’s rights and their nationalities,” he says. |
| There are other consequences, too, says Fatima al-Abrash, who works at Mazaya, a women’s centre that also runs programmes for children. | There are other consequences, too, says Fatima al-Abrash, who works at Mazaya, a women’s centre that also runs programmes for children. |
| “Many foreign fighters don’t allow their children to integrate with the other children in the community, and they even prevent them goin to public schools, because they consider these schools [to be secular],” she says. “So they send their children to Islamic institutions [that] were found by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham instead. This creates huge social fracture among the children.” | “Many foreign fighters don’t allow their children to integrate with the other children in the community, and they even prevent them goin to public schools, because they consider these schools [to be secular],” she says. “So they send their children to Islamic institutions [that] were found by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham instead. This creates huge social fracture among the children.” |
| So far, says Zidan, at least two women have refused to marry foreign combatants. “It’s our duty to solve this problem. And we have to take the responsibility.” | So far, says Zidan, at least two women have refused to marry foreign combatants. “It’s our duty to solve this problem. And we have to take the responsibility.” |
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