It’s bad enough that European nations are failing to stop a large number of Islamic State sympathizers from crossing into Islamic State territory. Their treasonous voyage frequently turns into a one-two punch: As recent attacks show, not all recruits stick around the “caliphate”; many Islamists make the trek back home, where their emboldened ideology is unleashed in the form of jihad on the homeland. Just ask Belgium, Germany, France and Britain about the consequences of lax vetting both to and from terrorist-controlled areas.

In a strange twist, however, Sweden wants to extend compassion to ISIL defectors who have ostensibly repented of their dastardly behavior and want a fresh start back home. Gary Bauer reports, “It turns out that several returning jihadis have complained that they can’t get jobs because their pictures from the battlefield are all over the Internet. So the Swedish government is giving them a ‘special status’ and new identities. It’s like a witness relocation program for returning terrorists. Alice Kuhnke, the Swedish Minister for Culture and Democracy, says that the returning ISIS fighters ‘need to be channeled back into our democratic society.’”

There are numerous fallacies with this reasoning, not the least of which is Bauer’s point about Islam and chicanery: “Kuhnke admits the government has no clue how many Muslims still cling to their extremist beliefs or whether they left Iraq and Syria because they became ‘disillusioned’ with ISIS. I doubt they were ‘disillusioned’ with ISIS. They left Sweden to wage jihad. It is more likely that they left Iraq and Syria because they were getting their butts kicked.” Sweden is clearly an area where jihadis won’t have to worry about getting their butts kicked.

These Islamists were traitors for joining ISIL, and chances are they’re engaging in betrayal yet again under the guise of having become “enlightened.” (Deception is what Islam teaches, after all.) Keep in mind: These aren’t refugees; these are people known to have been affiliated with terrorist organization like ISIL. Yet Sweden is treating them like they’re just as entitled to jobs, welfare and security as the authentic refugees who are fleeing the very atrocities these terrorists inflicted. Former Obama State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf once said, “We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need in the medium- to longer term to go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups [like the] lack of opportunity for jobs.” Remember: The American Left basically conforms to Sweden’s view on how to stifle jihad. And that’s terrifying.