Trinidad and Tobago: From the Caribbean to the caliphate

Reporters © France 24

The twin island state of Trinidad and Tobago lies between the South American coast of Venezuela and the West Indies. Home to roughly 1.5 million inhabitants of African and Indian descent, the tiny Caribbean nation has one of the world’s highest volunteer rates for the Islamic State (IS) group. Between 2013 and 2016, more than 130 Trinidadians left to join the IS group, making the island country one of the world’s biggest recruiting grounds, per capita, for would-be jihadists. Since the fall of the self-declared caliphate in 2017, 90 Trinidad and Tobago nationals, including 56 children, have been detained in camps in Syria and are unable to return home. FRANCE 24's Cyrille Charpentier and Damien Lansade report.