As 20 Malaysians remain in Syria’s crumbling Islamic State caliphate, others are seeking to return home

As what remains of the self-proclaimed Islamic State caliphate in Syria crumbles under a sustained final assault by US-backed forces, an estimated 20 Malaysians are still holed up among the rubble, according to one fellow national who has fled the fighting. Lidia, 29, scrambled out of IS territory last month together with her two sons aged two and four, as bombs started falling around her home in Mayadin in the eastern province of Deir-ez-Zor. The Malay-Muslim laboratory technician, who can also speak Mandarin, contacted her father, a Johor-based businessman, via text message on February 19 asking him to help her return home. In a phone interview, he said his daughter was now in a Kurdish-controlled camp in al-Hol, in the northeastern province of Hasakah. “According to my daughter, there are at least 20 Malaysians who are still in the [caliphate] where fighting is taking place,” the man, who declined to be named, said on Wednesday. Singapore detains businessman who sponsored Malaysian Islamic State fighter On Tuesday, an official from the Syrian Democratic Forces group that is spearheading the offensive, Mustafa Bali, posted on Twitter that 3,000 IS members had surrendered. “Lidia herself left because IS told her to go. She paid someone US$500 to secure her safe passage out of IS territory to al-Hol camp. I do not know who that person is but I understand the person is not a people smuggler,” said her father. At a time when other countries, notably the US and Britain, have been refusing to take back their citizens who travelled to Syria to join IS, Malaysia has been cautiously accepting them – provided they undergo a month-long rehabilitation and de-radicalisation programme. Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, head of counterterrorism at Special Branch, the intelligence arm of the Malaysian police, said “thorough checks” were being conducted on all returnees. “We bring in clerics and psychologists to evaluate their ideology and psychological make-up,” he said. “We will compare intelligence which we received from friendly foreign services. If there is evidence that a returnee was involved in [Islamic State] militant activities, he or she would be charged in court.” ‘I sold my son to IS’: the story of a Philippine family ripped apart In total, 102 Malaysians are understood to have travelled to Syria to join IS, 11 of whom have since returned. Eight of these, all men, were convicted and jailed, while the remaining three – a woman and two children – are free. The government is currently attempting to repatriate 13 of the 51 Malaysians – including Lidia – who are still believed to be in Syria, according to Ayob. He said these 13 had reached out to family members in their home country, who then contacted the police. “We are trying to get them back but it will take time as it involves many different parties from different countries,” he said. Lidia’s father said his daughter had seen “many Malaysians” arrive at al-Hol displacement camp since the Syrian Democratic Forces resumed their assault on Monday. The months-long offensive has been halted multiple times to allow fighters to surrender and evacuees to escape. “[There were] more than 10 of them. They were mostly children and women. There was at least one man,” he said, adding “all the women and children want to return home”. Lidia left Malaysia for Syria in October 2014 with her husband and son, who was then only a few months old. She remarried and had a second child after her first husband was killed. Her second husband has since also died. She and her sons are now among the 66,427 people – mostly women and children – living in the cramped conditions of al-Hol camp, according to a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs statement issued on Monday. “Previously Lidia occupied one tent with her sons. Now she has to share her tent with two other families,” said her father, who does not expect to see his daughter again any time soon. “After speaking with [humanitarian organisation the International Committee of the Red Cross], I expect it would take at least one year before Lidia can come home,” he said. “I have waited a long time for news that she is safe and alive. I will just have to wait a little longer before I see her again.” Of the 51 Malaysians still thought to be in Syria, 17 are believed to be children. Since 2013, 40 Malaysians have died in Islamic State-controlled territory, according to Ayob the counterterrorism chief, nine of whom were suicide bombers. Malaysian police said there were still citizens who wanted to fight for IS. “We are keeping an eye on them,” Ayob said, according to the New Straits Times. “Those who cannot go to Syria are now setting their sights on Mindanao in southern Philippines where militant groups have links to IS.”