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 jihadist 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 Belgium society.

[ Belgian authorities: Brothers carried out Islamic State suicide attacks]