How Two Brussels Neighborhoods Became 'A Breeding Ground' For Terror

Molenbeek and Schaerbeek have been tied to Islamist extremism, most recently after the bombings in Brussels and the Paris attacks in November. Here is what we know about these communities, which have been called terrorist breeding grounds.

A tiny minority of people who live in Molenbeek and Schaerbeek have any connection to or interest in terrorist organizations. Yet these neighborhoods, and others like them, have been targets for recruiting efforts by Islamist extremists.

An estimated 470 to 553 foreign fighters in Syria have roots in Belgium, the greatest number per capita of any country in the West. Many of those young jihadists have ties in Brussels and to Molenbeek or Schaerbeek.

Why are some young people in these neighborhoods so susceptible to Islamist militant views? Belgian census data from 2011 quantifies what has made this fertile territory for recruiters: high unemployment, educational disparities, involvement in the prison system and isolation from the wider Belgian society.

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