Special to WorldTribune.com

With its recruiting avenues in the Middle East and Europe increasingly being closed off, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is looking to the Caribbean for new jihadists.

Trinidad and Tobago was the terror group’s first target. Nearly 100 recruits have traveled from the dual-island nation to Syria to join ISIL, according to the UK’s Daily Star.

British diplomat Arthur Snell said an ISIL recruitment drive in the Caribbean could be successful as much of the population face living conditions that could make them prone to extremism.

“Quite a lot of things that occur in jihadist groups elsewhere apply in Trinidad – people who are exposed to gang violence, broken homes, poor education opportunities, a lack of a sense of self belonging,” Snell told the Daily Star.

ISIL has seen its numbers dwindle in the past year amid Russia’s intervention in Syria, a stepped-up U.S.-led coalition effort in Iraq and Syria and Europe’s crackdown on the terror group’s online recruiting.

According to the Daily Star, ISIL is also tapping Indian Ocean island nations Maldives and Mauritius for potential recruits.

  100 Caribbean jihadists, Arthur Snell, Trouble in paradise? ISIL reportedly recruiting in the Caribbean, WorldTribune.com