“Disrupting ISIS Recruitment”

I recently visited the Island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, the scene of the siege of Marawi, where the ISIS affiliated ‘Maute group’ briefly took over the city and inevitably met their end. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to stir people from passivity and complacency; face a situation head on and contend with it. 

I met with the staff of Duyog Marawi a group initiated by the Redemptorist order with support from the wider Catholic Church in the Philippines. Their staff and volunteers are Muslims and Catholics, mostly young people who are committed to peace and the restoration of the lives of those affected by the troubles in Marawi. Duyog means to ‘accompany’ and the group intends to ‘journey with’ the Meranaw people as they move through the various stages of recovery and development.

Before the insurrection in Marawi, ISIS recruited children as young as 9 years old as fighters, the younger they are the easier to brainwash, coerce and manipulate. The Maute family ran a residential school where many were recruited and whilst their families noticed how their joy left them to be replaced by aggression and hatred, they did not anticipate the outcome. Now however, through Duyog Marawi, the Muslim community have taken ownership of the problem. 

Duyog Marawi is now involved in countering the ideology and recruitment tactics of ISIS through a mobile Madrasah (Islamic school) for the children and a similar system to reach older youth to warn them ahead of time and teach them proper values. They are seriously disrupting ISIS recruitment through their efforts. The Muslim communities are forearmed now and can better protect their youth from those who would merely seek to profit from their children’s deaths.

As I listened to the three courageous young Meranaw Duyog Marawi staff, Juji, Jam and Hudaifa, it occurred to me that every young person seeks to know and find his part in the larger story, a noble or worthy cause to champion. Along with their Christian colleagues they had chosen the way of peace. They are the beacons of hope for a shared, common future.

As Christian and Muslim youth unite under a common banner of peace and understanding to protect their communities and nation from those who come only to ‘kill, steal and destroy’ (John 10:10), they become an impenetrable phalanx (interlocked shields) that will break the waves of fanciful infantile ideologies that crash against them, with unshakeable resolve and manly courage.

Perhaps communities in other nations can learn from this excellent project and apply a similar model to prevent radicalization of the young.