Imprisoned IS members open up to Lebanese social workers
Two Lebanese sisters have been taking great risks to research the reasons people turn to extremism, interviewing members of IS, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Roumieh prison for their side of the story.
BEIRUT — Armed with their black veils, open ears and expertise in forensic psychology, two young Saudi-raised Lebanese sisters spend hours each week tapping deep into the lives and minds of terrorists of the Islamic State (IS), al-Qaeda and other groups imprisoned in Lebanon’s notorious Roumieh prison.
“We went in with modest clothes, no nail polish, no perfume. We listened and finally gained their trust — it can take a very long time, but they will eventually open up,” said Nancy Yamout.
Over Arabic coffee at her family's apartment in Beirut, she told Al-Monitor, “No one, not even the guards, thought we’d last past a day, or could take it for this long. But somehow we did, because it’s important work.”
Nancy and her younger sister Maya are both Beirut-based social workers. They emphasize the lack of support for any kind of social work in Lebanon and say that there are no official “psychosocial profiling programs” for suspected terrorists and others detained in Lebanon — a country of over four million that continues to struggle with regional conflicts and sectarian violence from within.
