UAE foils travel plan of four Sudanese girls to join Daesh

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)Swift intervention from the UAE and Sudanese security officials foiled the bid of four Sudanese medical students to reportedly join Daesh group in Syria. The students were caught at a UAE airport.

The students including a UAE-based 20-year-old were deported from the UAE to Sudan on Saturday Sudanese security officials have told Khaleej Times.

Sudanese authorities had earlier issued a circular for arresting the students who used forged passports to travel to the UAE. The circular was issued after the girls' families approached authorities and reported them missing.

The UAE-based girl a fourth year medical student identified as T.S.H. boarded a flight from Dubai to Sudan without informing her family. When the girl did not return home her family members realised her passport was missing and immediately informed relatives in Sudan.

A relative went to Khartoum airport and found that the flight had arrived one hour earlier. Security officials spotted the girl on CCTV camera footages but could not trace her whereabouts. Officials later spotted on their footages four veiled women boarding a flight to Istanbul via a UAE airport. Based on the missing complaints filed earlier by the parents of three students and information given by UAE-based girl's relatives a circular was issued for their arrest.

Sudanese authorities have said the girls' families are in a state of shock.

Parents of the Sudan-based students said they noticed that the girls had become "more religious" after joining university. The parents started panicking when one of the students' friends joined Daesh. They then started monitoring their daughters and hid their passports. They also screened the girls' social media activities.

On the day they boarded the flight from Sudan one of the girls A.A.H. asked her father to drop her at a friend's house. Since he was busy he asked his driver to do so. Her mother later found that she had worn an abaya instead of her usual clothes when she left home. The woman tried calling her daughter but found her mobile phone was switched off.

The driver told the mother that the girl had met some "veiled women" after he dropped her. Her father found that her passport was missing from home after which he contacted security officials. He rushed to Khartoum airport but could not find his daughter's name in the passengers' list. When reviewing the airport's CCTV camera footages he identified his daughter who was veiled by the shoes she was wearing.

They were with T.S.H. and twins M.A.S.A. and A.A.S.A.

The UAE authorities took the students into custody after they landed here and deported them to Sudan.

Investigations carried out by Sudanese authorities revealed that students are recruited by Daesh to provide logistic support. Authorities are "closely working" with Turkish authorities to trace many of them who are feared to have travelled to Syria via Turkey to join Daesh.

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The Daesh lure

August: Eleven Indians detained in UAE for planning to join Daesh group and recruiting financing and providing logistic support to those willing to joining the terror outfit Indian media reported last week.

June: At least 12 final year medical students from a Khartoum university - including UK Canadian and US citizens - feared to have left Sudan for Syria via Turkey to join Daesh.

March: Nine British medical students of Sudanese origin from the same university feared to have travelled to Syria to work in areas controlled by Daesh.

'How is Daesh brainwashing our children?'

Families around the world are liv-ing in fear with many questioning how Daesh manages to brainwash students.

Some families here questioned how students get forged passports and who arranges their travel. Sharjah resident Suha Hassan said governments and religious scholars need to spread the tolerant teachings of Islam. Some students get lured by firebrand speeches by members of terror groups.

"They spread misinformation about extremists which is in sharp contrast to the real teachings of Islam."

Another resident Ahmed Ali said Daesh and other terror outfits target students with little or no knowledge about Islam.

"Governments must do something to correct misguided youths."Dubai resident Nema Hassan expressed concern over the spread of Daesh. "It has branches in Yemen Libya Egypt Pakistan India Somalia and Nigeria among others."

Another resident Nuha Muez said all entities concerned must come together to stop the advance of terror groups.

Amira Agarib