The scrapbook is filled with photographs and tributes: they
show Dominique Bons' son Nicolas growing from a teenager into a
young man.
Offering brief glimpses of past holidays and family moments, clues to
his passions and personality, the book is one of Bons' few souvenirs of
her son's short life.
Nicolas, from Toulouse, converted to Islam four years ago, gradually
becoming more and more devout.
Bons, who is a former French soldier, says Nicolas had never spoken
to her about wanting to join a religious war, but last year the 30-year-
old announced he and his half-brother were going on vacation together.
Three weeks later he called to say they were in Syria -- two of the
more than 900 French citizens the government believes are involved in
the jihad there and in Iraq.
Within days, his half-brother was killed, and shortly
afterward he spoke to his mother for the last time,
telling her she would be notified if anything happened
to him.
In late December, Bons received a text message
explaining that Nicolas has been killed in "an
explosives operation" -- that's all she knows.
"The body? There is no body... I don't have a body,"
she says. "If he was killed in a truck filled with
explosives, the body... boom!"
Because no body has been recovered, there is also no
death certificate, meaning that --officially at least, in
France -- Nicolas is still alive.
For his mother, he always will be. In her grief, she
has written a poem -- added to the treasured
scrapbook -- telling her son: "You will exist in my
heart eternally. I love you."
Unlike Bons, one anonymous French bus driver knows
his daughter is still alive in Syria -- but he is
desperately worried that may not be the case for much
longer.
The man -- who asked not to be identified out of
concern for his daughter's safety -- says the 23-
year-old converted to Islam and married a Tunisian
man before moving to Syria with the couple's two
children.
The couple said they were going there to do
humanitarian work; they are now believed to be in Raqqa, and safe --
for the moment at least -- but the city, an ISIS stronghold, is a target
of coalition forces.
And both father and daughter fear she could be arrested if she comes
back to France.
He has a warning for other parents: "Pay attention... it could happen to
you before you even know it."
David Thomson, author of "The French Jihadists," believes there are
many reasons why so many French Muslims are becoming radicalized
and heading to Iraq and Syria to join militant groups.
"Religious frustrations, material frustrations, perhaps a feeling that it
would be a sin to stay back in France, a desire to experience this
historic moment and die fighting the coalition," he explains.
Concerned at the growing threat of radicalization, French authorities
have introduced new regulations in an effort to stem the tide of citizens
traveling to the Middle East to join the fight.
"We had to change our rules in different ways,"
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius explained to CNN's
Christiane Amanpour recently.
"First we decided that the government, the
administration, would be able to suspend not only
passports but also ID for people whose intention is to
go to Syria."
The second step is to encourage families concerned at
the path their children appear to be taking to contact
the authorities and report their fears.
"Because we have many cases where families do not
agree with the youngster and at the moment they are
aware that the young people want to leave and therefore
they have to get in touch with us in order to have a
reaction," he said.
"We have to be very, very strict and to explain to these
young people, especially the young girls -- 13, 14
years old -- that if they are going there, some of them
think that it will be a new life, [but] in fact they are
prostitutes, they are sexual slaves.
"The young people are utilized and many of them are
killed."
Fouad El Bathy has spent the past nine months trying
to bring his teenage sister safely home from Syria
before it is too late.
Nora, 16, was recruited and given a plane ticket to join
the fight in Syria, according to French intelligence.
Fouad is convinced she is being held against her will, and took the
risky step of trying to find her and get her back -- he was even taken
captive at one point.
But when he finally tracked her down, he couldn't convince her to leave.
"I told her to come back with me but she cried and beat her head
against the wall and she said I can't I can't."
Later he was told the leader of the group wanted to marry her.
Since Nora is a minor, El Bathy's lawyer hopes that if she does make
it back he can persuade French officials to treat her as a victim not a
combatant.
Like El Bathy and Bons, the relatives of many of those caught up in the
jihadists' web say they feel powerless to protect their children and
siblings.
Bons The scrapbook is filled with photographs and tributes: they
show Dominique Bons' son Nicolas growing from a teenager into a
young man.
Offering brief glimpses of past holidays and family moments, clues to
his passions and personality, the book is one of Bons' few souvenirs of
her son's short life.
Nicolas, from Toulouse, converted to Islam four years ago, gradually
becoming more and more devout.
Bons, who is a former French soldier, says Nicolas had never spoken
to her about wanting to join a religious war, but last year the 30-year-
old announced he and his half-brother were going on vacation together.
Three weeks later he called to say they were in Syria -- two of the
more than 900 French citizens the government believes are involved in
the jihad there and in Iraq.
Within days, his half-brother was killed, and shortly
afterward he spoke to his mother for the last time,
telling her she would be notified if anything happened
to him.
In late December, Bons received a text message
explaining that Nicolas has been killed in "an
explosives operation" -- that's all she knows.
"The body? There is no body... I don't have a body,"
she says. "If he was killed in a truck filled with
explosives, the body... boom!"
Because no body has been recovered, there is also no
death certificate, meaning that --officially at least, in
France -- Nicolas is still alive.
For his mother, he always will be. In her grief, she
has written a poem -- added to the treasured
scrapbook -- telling her son: "You will exist in my
heart eternally. I love you."
Unlike Bons, one anonymous French bus driver knows
his daughter is still alive in Syria -- but he is
desperately worried that may not be the case for much
longer.
The man -- who asked not to be identified out of
concern for his daughter's safety -- says the 23-
year-old converted to Islam and married a Tunisian
man before moving to Syria with the couple's two
children.
The couple said they were going there to do
humanitarian work; they are now believed to be in Raqqa, and safe --
for the moment at least -- but the city, an ISIS stronghold, is a target
of coalition forces.
And both father and daughter fear she could be arrested if she comes
back to France.
He has a warning for other parents: "Pay attention... it could happen to
you before you even know it."
David Thomson, author of "The French Jihadists," believes there are
many reasons why so many French Muslims are becoming radicalized
and heading to Iraq and Syria to join militant groups.
"Religious frustrations, material frustrations, perhaps a feeling that it
would be a sin to stay back in France, a desire to experience this
historic moment and die fighting the coalition," he explains.
Concerned at the growing threat of radicalization, French authorities
have introduced new regulations in an effort to stem the tide of citizens
traveling to the Middle East to join the fight.
"We had to change our rules in different ways,"
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius explained to CNN's
Christiane Amanpour recently.
"First we decided that the government, the
administration, would be able to suspend not only
passports but also ID for people whose intention is to
go to Syria."
The second step is to encourage families concerned at
the path their children appear to be taking to contact
the authorities and report their fears.
"Because we have many cases where families do not
agree with the youngster and at the moment they are
aware that the young people want to leave and therefore
they have to get in touch with us in order to have a
reaction," he said.
"We have to be very, very strict and to explain to these
young people, especially the young girls -- 13, 14
years old -- that if they are going there, some of them
think that it will be a new life, [but] in fact they are
prostitutes, they are sexual slaves.
"The young people are utilized and many of them are
killed."
Fouad El Bathy has spent the past nine months trying
to bring his teenage sister safely home from Syria
before it is too late.
Nora, 16, was recruited and given a plane ticket to join
the fight in Syria, according to French intelligence.
Fouad is convinced she is being held against her will, and took the
risky step of trying to find her and get her back -- he was even taken
captive at one point.
But when he finally tracked her down, he couldn't convince her to leave.
"I told her to come back with me but she cried and beat her head
against the wall and she said I can't I can't."
Later he was told the leader of the group wanted to marry her.
Since Nora is a minor, El Bathy's lawyer hopes that if she does make
it back he can persuade French officials to treat her as a victim not a
combatant.
Like El Bathy and Bons, the relatives of many of those caught up in the
jihadists' web say they feel powerless to protect their children and
siblings.
Bons has set up an organization aimed at publicizing what has
happened to some of those who have made the trip to Iraq and Syria.
She hopes that by spreading the news through schools and social
media, she can convince others of the dangers posed by Islamist
extremists -- though for her son, it is too late. set up an organization aimed at publicizing what has
happened to some of those who have made the trip to Iraq and Syria.
She hopes that by spreading the news through schools and social
media, she can convince others of the dangers posed by Islamist
extremists -- though for her son, it is too late.
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