Europe's jihad prisons

A study conducted by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence found that prisons in Europe are becoming breeding grounds for jihadist groups and the emergence of the ISIS has strengthened the link between crime and terrorism. The group, which studied the profiles of European jihadists since 2011, discovered that persons who had been incarcerated for violent crimes find it easier to make the jump to violent terrorist. Also, terrorist groups prefer criminals as they are virtually self-financed because they use crime to raise funds. Consequently, networking within prisons has increased. The study also noted that of the 5,000 Europeans who travelled to West Asia to join terrorist groups around 57 per cent were incarcerated before being radicalized. The study is disturbing because it points to an endless supply of terrorists from European jails. The study is of particular interest to UK which has the highest prison population in western Europe. France, which has seen a slew of terror attacks is behind the UK, followed by Germany. The challenge before prison authorities is immense and European nations will have to double scrutiny and keep tabs on criminals leaving prison to ascertain if they are in touch with jihadist groups because the flow from Europe to West Asia must be curtailed.