Rehabilitating Children of Daesh: Extracting Recommendations from the Education-Related ISIS Files

The report Rehabilitating Children of Daesh: Extracting Recommendations from the Education-Related ISIS Files highlights the urgent need for rehabilitation and reintegration of children who have been exposed to Daesh’s harmful educational practices. It underscores how Daesh systematically indoctrinated children to believe their identity was under attack by ‘the other,’ isolating them from formal education and exposing them to distorted curriculum promoting violence and division. 

Launched by Hedayah, in collaboration with the Government of Spain, the report offers concrete recommendations for governments, the education sector, and others to rehabilitate and reintegrate children affected by mental and physical trauma under Daesh.  

This report builds on earlier research titled Planting the Seeds of the Poisonous Tree: Establishing a System of Meaning through ISIS Education, which analysis nearly 70 primary-source documents produced by Daesh in relation to children’s education. This research report is the outcome of a collaboration between Hedayah and the George Washington University Program on Extremism as part of the ISIS Files project. 

The “ISIS Files” constitute the largest non-governmental archive of original Daesh materials, compromising documents abandoned by Daesh in 11 cities after their strongholds were reclaimed. These files offer crucial insights into how extremist and violent extremist narratives were crafted and disseminated, specifically targeting children. Understanding this process is crucial to develop strategies to counter and mitigate its long-term impact on children.