ISIS human trafficking networks inquiry launched by British parliament

Members of the UK parliament are to examine the scale of ISIS human trafficking operations after 50 British women and children were identified in camps in north-east Syria.

The group, jointly chaired by former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell, will push for the repatriation of Britons, including adults who may face criminal charges on their return.

Human rights group Reprieve identified 16 women, nine men and 34 children from Britain in the camps who are part of 15 family groups.

It said the majority of the women were identified as victims of trafficking after they were taken to Syria as children, coerced into travelling or exploited on arrival.

Last month, The National spoke to a boy, 13, in a migrant camp, the only surviving member of a family whose mother took them to Syria to join extremists.

Other prominent cases include Shamima Begum, who travelled to Syria as a 15-year-old before marrying a Dutch ISIS fighter.

They lived in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa for about four years before the group lost its grip on the territory. She ended up in Al Roj migrant camp, where she is being held in dire conditions by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Begum, now 21, was stripped of her UK passport and barred from returning to fight her case after the government said she posed a security risk.

The cross-party group will examine whether the UK government properly assessed the risks of ISIS trafficking and what steps it needs to take. It says the regime of Bashar Al Assad should not ultimately decide their fate.

Many of those in the camps told Reprieve they had not wanted to go to Syria but were forced to do so by partners, or were groomed online by ISIS recruiters.

Lyn Brown, an MP for the opposition Labour party and joint chair of the group, said: “I think it’s quite clear that there has been a really sophisticated grooming process that has been used against them by very clear-sighted, clever individuals.

“My view is that I have no idea yet about the culpability of the women but I do know that the children who went were innocent and we failed to protect them.”

The group of MPs will seek evidence from the families of people who travelled to Syria, as well as experts on the law, human trafficking and international policy, and report back before the end of the year.

“The British government has a proud record in fighting human trafficking, but it has an unfortunate blind spot when it comes to women and girls who were trafficked to Syria by ISIS,” Mr Mitchell said.

“Our government should take responsibility for identifying victims of trafficking, and returning them to the UK where their cases can be properly resolved. The government must not risk outsourcing these cases to the dictator Bashar Al Assad.”

The UK government largely refuses to repatriate adult Britons who joined ISIS, but has brought back a few unaccompanied.

The US estimates that there are 2,000 foreign fighters in Syrian camps and 10,000 of their relatives.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”