The "ISIS brides" being returned

to this country are going to be a problem. That is inevitable.

Yes, they will almost certainly live off the taxpayer dollar for the rest of their lives. They almost certainly have no employment skills at present. Even if they are able to obtain some it is unlikely they will get employment. "Who on earth would employ someone who had been married to a terrorist and has probably been brainwashed by terrorists?" someone asked me. This was well before the women in question were even out of the camps.

Those "refugee camps" are brutal places. You need to be tough to survive in one. Rape occurs multiple times every day. Many men there consider it their right to have sex whenever they wish and with whomever they wish. If a woman is a widow then she is doubly vulnerable.  She will be shared around. 

Young girls are even more vulnerable. Their services will be sold for a little extra food, for the right to sleep in an actual tent rather than makeshift plastic sheeting and much more. They are betrothed and even "married" to older men.

Bringing them back here and providing them with housing, food, health services and much more however is not going to make them "grateful". These women and children have been brainwashed.  Wear the hijab? That's not enough. Wear a burqa? That's more like it.

Those who arrived over the weekend have "apologised". Yes, they may well mean it too. They may be relieved too. 

At the same time these women are used to doing just as they are told. Their husbands told them to go with them. They did just that. Some of the more dominant women will be used to ordering other women around but they will still allow men to order them around. They did that here before they left. Many of the women would have had marriages arranged for them. That complicates family relationships, notions of family "honour" and much more.

These women will be at risk for the rest of their lives. There will always be others who believe that a caliphate is the only answer. Even if the women themselves eventually believe something different this is a religion which requires active participation. It requires far more than attendance at the mosque once a week. There will be expectations of them. 

Their children are at risk too. They have been living in places no child should have to live, experienced things no child should have to live.  They will need a lot of support. They will need watching closely because even the youngest of them will have been indoctrinated by example as well as teaching. Where will they go to school?

And are the rest of us at risk? Will some of these returnees be so radicalised that they pose a risk to the rest of us? What about the young boy who stood there holding a human head? How is he going to grow up. What about the children for whom I provided communication boards - children too afraid to make eye contact or utter a word - what about them? Will they ever approach anything like normal or will they one day lash out and harm not just themselves but others? We have no way of knowing. It does not mean we must not try.

We have been told we should not speculate or discuss their return in the media but this will happen. I have my own views about how those who return should be helped. I know others would disagree with those views. Trying to prevent discussion is just going to encourage it. We are all going to need educating too.