In February 2015, three teenage schoolgirls left the comfort of their homes in East London and traveled to Syria to join the self-styled Islamic State (IS). Around 60 women and girls are thought to have made the same journey from Britain.

The story of their disappearance dominated the UK press for weeks and the blame game inevitably began to hunt out whose fault it was. When the families of Amira Abase, Shamima Begum, and Kadiza Sultana found out that the police had been interviewing the trio about another girl from their school who had already joined IS, the case was picked up for investigation by the government. But soon certain sections of the press would turn on the families themselves.

VICE News gained intimate access to the father of one girl, Amira, and joined him as he dealt with the press and parliament to find out what it's like for those left behind by the tragic choices of their loved ones.

Watch "Escape to the Islamic State" - http://bit.ly/1HeXPKW

Read “British Men Charged With Trying to Join Islamic State and Attack US Military" - http://bit.ly/1M3J2dV

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