Some 1,300 Tunisian students are jihadist fighters

As a result of widespread joblessness, Tunisia’s universities have become fertile ground for recruitment by militants. There are nearly 1,300 Tunisian students currently acting as jihadist fighters in extremist organisations outside the country, most notably for the Islamic State – ISIS – in Iraq and Greater Syria.

This was the finding of a poll conducted by the University of Tunis over a three month period across most Tunisian universities and published on 28 May, according to a report in the Middle East Monitor.

The results of the poll suggest that science rather than liberal arts students are most attracted to jihadist groups, which are active in Syria and Iraq and to a lesser degree in Libya.

Extremist demography

The poll result was in line with a 2014 report, Foreign Fighters in Syria, which indicated that fighters from at least 81 countries had joined the civil war in Syria, with the highest number being from Tunisia.

A February 2015 report, Political Transition in Tunisia, confirmed that Tunisian nationals were involved in violent extremist groups abroad – with local authorities suggesting that the number of Tunisian jihadists outside the country could be much higher than estimated.

“Tunisian authorities stated in mid-2014 that at least 2,400 Tunisians had travelled to Syria as combatants since 2011, which would make Tunisia one of the largest known sources of foreign fighters there.”

Tunisian nationals also reportedly make up a significant proportion of foreign fighters active in violent extremist groups elsewhere in North and West Africa.

The report also said that the domestic group Ansar al-Sharia, formed in 2011, appeared to act variously as a charity, a recruitment pipeline for Islamist militants, and an armed group. It was designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States after allegedly being involved in an attack on the US embassy and an American school in Tunis in 2012.

Reasons

Low youth unemployment has been widely suggested as a driver of extremism.

Tunisia’s 2011 popular uprising known as the ‘Jasmine Revolution’, which ended the 23-year authoritarian regime of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and unleashed a wave of unrest across much of the Arab world, was sparked by youth unemployment including among graduates.

Last year’s African Economic Outlook said that youth unemployment in Tunisia remained “at a particularly worrisome level (34%, or one out of three), due to a widening gap between their abilities and the needs of businesses”.

But why are students flocking to jihad and how might universities stem the phenomenon?

Calestous Juma, director of the science, technology and globalisation project at Harvard University, told University World News: “Part of the problem might be young bright people who are searching for a meaning in life.”

Juma – who also co-chairs the African Union’s High Level Panel on Science, Technology and Innovation – added: “One way to address the problem is providing productive challenges that make effective use of their skills.

“Bright students who study the sciences but don’t see clear channels to be productive in society are particularly vulnerable,” he continued.

“The case for rethinking the role of universities and how they prepare young people to contribute positively to the economy is even more urgent than before.”