International identity

Identity and Biometrics Enabled Intelligence (BEI) Sharing for Transnational Threat Actors

According to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, excluding Turkey, Europe accounted for 21 percent of all foreign fighters in 2014. Half of the foreign fighters are from neighboring Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) countries and an additional four percent are from Turkey 1. Unfortunately, France has the distinction of being Europe’s leading exporter of jihadis, nearly 1,600 out of a continental total of over 5,000, according to government figures. Despite the government’s efforts after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January to block and prevent citizens from leaving for the war zone, the pace of departures has remained essentially unchanged 2.  Furthermore, Belgium has sent more young men and women per capita than anywhere in the West and another global terrorism trend asserts that private citizens are increasingly the targets of terrorist attacks. Deaths of private citizens increased by 172 percent between 2013 and 2014 compared to the total number of deaths which rose 80 percent 3. In light of recent events in Europe and the contemporary operating environment, terrorist activity and associated political violence will continue to have direct and indirect effects on European security.