Solsticewitch13's BOS: Nine 'brainwashed' British medical students join ISIS as desperate families travel to Turkish border to beg them to return

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Nine 'brainwashed' British medical students join ISIS as desperate families travel to Turkish border to beg them to return

Families alerted when one sent a Whatsapp message to sister near border
Lena Abdulqadir said she wanted to ‘volunteer to help wounded Syrians'
Teenagers born and raised in England and studied medicine in Sudan
Officials believe they have gone to work in hospitals in war-torn country

By Peter Henn For The Mail On Sunday and Jennifer Smith for MailOnline

Published: 01:59 GMT, 22 March 2015 | Updated: 13:01 GMT, 22 March 2015314 shares

Nine British medical students have travelled to Syria to work in hospitals in Islamic State-held areas, it emerged last night.

Four women and five men entered the country last week, keeping their plans secret from relatives until shortly before they crossed the border.

Turkish politician Mehmet Al Ediboglu told The Observer: ‘We all assume they are in Tel Abyad now, which is under Isis control.

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Nine British medical students have travelled to Syria to work in hospitals in Islamic State-held areas. The four women and five men, pictured above in The Observer, apparently kept their plans secret from their families

'The conflict out there is fierce, so medical help must be needed.’

He added: 'Let's not forget about the fact that they are doctors; they went there to help, not to fight. So this case is a little bit different.'

Mr Ediboglu, who has met the students’ families, said they felt the young Britons had been ‘cheated [and] brainwashed’.

Volunteer: Lena Abdulqadir has gone to Syria to work in ISIS controlled hospitals

The group, in their late teens and early 20s, are all Britons of Sudanese descent studying at a medical school in Khartoum.

Mr Ediboglu added: ‘These kids were born and raised in England, but they were sent to Sudan to study at medical school.’

The nine flew to Istanbul on March 12, he said, and took a bus to the Syrian border the next day.

The families were alerted only when one of the students, Lena Maumoon Abdulqadir, 19, who was born in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, sent a Whatsapp message to her sister saying she wanted to ‘volunteer to help wounded Syrian people’.

Accompanied with a grinning selfie, the youngster is reported as having written to her sister: 'Don’t worry about us, we’ve reached Turkey and are on our way to volunteer helping wounded Syrian people.'

Her father is thought to have rushed to Turkey immediately after learning of her plans. Speaking to Turkey's Birgun newspaper, he said: 'She was living in [Africa] a land which needs a lot of doctors everywhere.

'Why would she go all the way to Syria for volunteering?'

The Home Office is reported to have said the group would not automatically face prosecution if they returned to the UK, as long as they could prove they had not been fighting for IS.

The Foreign Office said: ‘We are providing consular assistance to the families and have informed the Turkish police, to try to ascertain their whereabouts.’

Turkish politician Mehmet Al Ediboglu said he and the families of the medics assume they are in Tel Abyad (pictured), which is under ISIS control

A fluttering Islamic State flag is flown over a hill in the town of Tel Abyad on the Syrian-Turkish border

A Home Office spokesman said: 'The UK advises against all travel to Syria and parts of Iraq.

'Anyone who does travel to these areas, even for humanitarian reasons, is putting themselves in considerable danger.

OTHER BRITISH TEENS WHO HAVE TRAVELLED TO SYRIA TO JOIN ISIS

In February, three east London schoolgirls fled from their homes, reportedly to become jihadi brides in Syria.

Kadiza Sultana, 16, Shamima Begum, 15, and Amira Abase, 15 were spotted on CCTV in Turkey, where they are thought to have been ushered over the border by a 'fixer' who provided them with false documents.

They are believed to have followed in the footsteps of their friend Sharmeena Begum, who went to the same school as the girls in Bethnal Green, and fled to the region before them.

Last week, jihadi twin Jamila Henry, 21, was caught allegedly trying to enter Syria, having reportedly already lived in Raqqa, the group's de facto capital, with her seven-month-old son.

She was arrested at Luton Airport when she landed back into the UK.

Earlier, three teenage boys had also been stopped in Turkey, apparently trying to enter Syria to join ISIS.

It came as five teenage girls and a 16-year-old boy were banned from travelling abroad after showing an interest in joining the terror group.

'The best way for the public to help is to donate to or otherwise support UK-registered charities with ongoing relief operations.'

It comes after five teenage girls who took an interest in Syria were banned from travelling abroad amid fears more British youngsters are planning to join the terror organisation.

The girls, two of whom are 15 and three 16, had their passports removed by a High Court judge after concerns over their alleged plans were raised by a local authority.

The adults responsible for them were also stripped of their passports.

The previous day a 16-year-old boy from Brighton was also banned from travelling abroad following the deaths of his older brothers, both killed in Syria.

Earlier three teenage boys were thrown out of the country after being picked up in Istanbul as they tried to cross the border.

Their British parents phoned police after the boys, aged 17 and 19, went missing. Their arrival back in the UK came as footage of three north London schoolgirls who had earlier left the country to join frontline militants emerged.

In February Kadiza Sultana, 16, Shamima Begum, 15, and Amira Abase, 15, all fled to Syria.

The girls were captured on CCTV in the UK and in Turkey where they are thought to have been ushered over the border by an ISIS 'fixer' who provided them with false documents.

Sharmeena Begum, who went to the same school as the girls in Bethnal Green, travelled to the region before them.