BRUSSELS, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Belgium has been urged to develop a new national plan to bring down the number of Belgian residents who leave to fight in Syria and Iraq, local media reported on Sunday, quoting a UN report published late on Friday.
Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad said a group of international specialists from a UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries spent five days in Belgium last week, meeting representatives from government, police and families of those who have joined the conflict, to build up a portrait of the typical fighter.
According to the preliminary findings, the average age for a fighter heading to Syria from Belgium is "around 23 and decreasing" - and the study found that women "are also leaving in more and more significant numbers".
Human rights expert Elzbieta Karska, who heads the expert group, said in a news release: "The number of Belgian foreign fighters is reportedly the highest in Europe per capita among those travelling to join conflicts abroad such as in Syria and Iraq. The need to tackle this problem through robust collective efforts which engages all sectors of Belgian society is critical in finding solutions to this phenomenon."
The preliminary report found that an estimated 500 Belgians have travelled to Iraq or Syria to fight. At least 207 are in active conflict, 77 have died, 128 returned to Belgium and 62 were prevented from leaving in the first place.
In total, 46 foreign fighters have been prosecuted, all associated with the group Sharia4Belgium, the report added.
The need for a sense of belonging and acceptance, the search for a livelihood, escaping a criminal background, and adventure were among the reasons cited in the report for why people chose to leave for Syria.
According to the preliminary report, there have been three waves of recruitment so far: the first in 2010, led by Sharia4Belgium, a second peer-based recruitment in 2012, and a third in 2014 which used informal networks and social media. It added that some recruits are offered up to 9,000 euros (about 10,200 U.S. dollars) as a joining incentive.
The group will present its first report on the issue of foreign fighters to the UN General Assembly on Nov. 2.
A more comprehensive report on the Belgian findings will be handed to the UN Human Rights Council in 2016.
