Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Britain to seize jihadists’ passports, stop them returning home

-

Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday outlined plans to seize passports from British jihadists and stop them returning from fighting overseas, while proposing landing bans on airlines that fail to comply with London's no-fly lists.

Some 500 radicalised Britons are estimated to be fighting in Iraq and Syria, both of which are facing a major offensive from the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

"We will shortly be introducing our own new Counter-Terrorism Bill in the UK," Cameron said in a speech to Australia's parliament before travelling to the G20 leaders' summit in Brisbane, adding that there was "no opt-out from dealing with this".

The bill will create "new powers for police at ports to seize passports, to stop suspects travelling and to stop British nationals returning to the UK unless they do so on our terms".

There would also be "new rules to prevent airlines that don't comply with our no-fly lists or security screening measures from landing in the UK," he said.

Foreign fighters in Syria Iraq
Foreign fighters in Syria Iraq
John Saeki/Adrian Leung, AFP graphic

British media reports said the legislation would block individuals from returning from Syria and Iraq to Britain for at least two years unless they comply with strict measures.

These could include being escorted back to Britain and then facing prosecution, bail-style reporting conditions and deradicalisation courses.

Border guards and airport police would also be given new powers to seize passports from those they suspect of planning to travel abroad for terrorism, the reports said.

Australia is facing a similar scenario to Britain with at least 73 of its nationals having their passports cancelled to prevent them travelling to Iraq and Syria, as concerns mount that they could return home and commit violence.

Demonstrators in London on November 1  2014 show solidarity with Kurdish resistance to Islamic State...
Demonstrators in London on November 1, 2014 show solidarity with Kurdish resistance to Islamic State, particularly in the mainly Kurdish Syrian town of Kobane
Andrew Cowie, AFP/File

At least 71 Australians are currently fighting in the two nations, the government says. At least 15 have been killed -- two of them as suicide bombers -- and Canberra recently passed a law criminalising travel to terror hotspots without good reason.

The new powers could cause legal wrangles over fears of civil liberty contraventions, but Cameron said they were necessary.

"We listen carefully to what the police and security services advise us," he said at a press conference.

"We think about the civil liberty implications, we think about the effect on other countries, but at the end of the day I make the choices on what I believe is necessary to keep the British public safe and I think this new power is important in that regard."

- Tackling social media -

One of two armoured police vans leaves Westminster Magistrates Court in London on October 17  2014  ...
One of two armoured police vans leaves Westminster Magistrates Court in London on October 17, 2014, shortly after the appearance of four men charged over an alleged terror plot
Leon Neal, AFP/File

Cameron added that as well as handling the extremist threat, the root cause must be dealt with.

"It's not exclusion from the mainstream. Of course we have more to do, but we are both successful multicultural democracies where opportunities abound," he told parliament.

"And it's not foreign policy. No, the root cause of the challenge we face is the extremist narrative. So we must confront this extremism in all its forms.

"We must ban extremist preachers from our countries. We must root out extremism from our schools, universities and prisons.

"As we do so we must work with the overwhelming majority of Muslims who abhor the twisted narrative that has seduced some of our people."

Image uploaded on June 19  2014 by Al-Hayat Media Centre shows a man (C) believed to be Nasser Mutha...
Image uploaded on June 19, 2014 by Al-Hayat Media Centre shows a man (C) believed to be Nasser Muthana from Wales, speaking in an online video titled "There is no life without Jihad" AFP IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DIGITAL ALTERATIONS TO CONTENT
Al Hayat Media Centre, Al Hayat Media Centre/HO/AFP/File

Cameron acknowledged the growing problem of young Muslims being enticed by extremist material on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

"There is a role for government in that. We must not allow the Internet to be an ungoverned space," he said.

"But there is a role for companies too. In the UK we are pushing companies to do more, including strengthening filters, improving reporting mechanisms and being more proactive in taking down this harmful material.

"We are making progress but there is further to go."

Last month, the European Union, Facebook and Twitter agreed to work together to combat online extremism and discussed steps to block gruesome beheading videos.

US Internet firms have sometimes been uneasy about blocking extremist material, seeing themselves as platforms rather than publications, and worrying about the implications for free speech, which is strongly protected under US law.

Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday outlined plans to seize passports from British jihadists and stop them returning from fighting overseas, while proposing landing bans on airlines that fail to comply with London’s no-fly lists.

Some 500 radicalised Britons are estimated to be fighting in Iraq and Syria, both of which are facing a major offensive from the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

“We will shortly be introducing our own new Counter-Terrorism Bill in the UK,” Cameron said in a speech to Australia’s parliament before travelling to the G20 leaders’ summit in Brisbane, adding that there was “no opt-out from dealing with this”.

The bill will create “new powers for police at ports to seize passports, to stop suspects travelling and to stop British nationals returning to the UK unless they do so on our terms”.

There would also be “new rules to prevent airlines that don’t comply with our no-fly lists or security screening measures from landing in the UK,” he said.

Foreign fighters in Syria Iraq

Foreign fighters in Syria Iraq
John Saeki/Adrian Leung, AFP graphic

British media reports said the legislation would block individuals from returning from Syria and Iraq to Britain for at least two years unless they comply with strict measures.

These could include being escorted back to Britain and then facing prosecution, bail-style reporting conditions and deradicalisation courses.

Border guards and airport police would also be given new powers to seize passports from those they suspect of planning to travel abroad for terrorism, the reports said.

Australia is facing a similar scenario to Britain with at least 73 of its nationals having their passports cancelled to prevent them travelling to Iraq and Syria, as concerns mount that they could return home and commit violence.

Demonstrators in London on November 1  2014 show solidarity with Kurdish resistance to Islamic State...

Demonstrators in London on November 1, 2014 show solidarity with Kurdish resistance to Islamic State, particularly in the mainly Kurdish Syrian town of Kobane
Andrew Cowie, AFP/File

At least 71 Australians are currently fighting in the two nations, the government says. At least 15 have been killed — two of them as suicide bombers — and Canberra recently passed a law criminalising travel to terror hotspots without good reason.

The new powers could cause legal wrangles over fears of civil liberty contraventions, but Cameron said they were necessary.

“We listen carefully to what the police and security services advise us,” he said at a press conference.

“We think about the civil liberty implications, we think about the effect on other countries, but at the end of the day I make the choices on what I believe is necessary to keep the British public safe and I think this new power is important in that regard.”

– Tackling social media –

One of two armoured police vans leaves Westminster Magistrates Court in London on October 17  2014  ...

One of two armoured police vans leaves Westminster Magistrates Court in London on October 17, 2014, shortly after the appearance of four men charged over an alleged terror plot
Leon Neal, AFP/File

Cameron added that as well as handling the extremist threat, the root cause must be dealt with.

“It’s not exclusion from the mainstream. Of course we have more to do, but we are both successful multicultural democracies where opportunities abound,” he told parliament.

“And it’s not foreign policy. No, the root cause of the challenge we face is the extremist narrative. So we must confront this extremism in all its forms.

“We must ban extremist preachers from our countries. We must root out extremism from our schools, universities and prisons.

“As we do so we must work with the overwhelming majority of Muslims who abhor the twisted narrative that has seduced some of our people.”

Image uploaded on June 19  2014 by Al-Hayat Media Centre shows a man (C) believed to be Nasser Mutha...

Image uploaded on June 19, 2014 by Al-Hayat Media Centre shows a man (C) believed to be Nasser Muthana from Wales, speaking in an online video titled “There is no life without Jihad” AFP IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DIGITAL ALTERATIONS TO CONTENT
Al Hayat Media Centre, Al Hayat Media Centre/HO/AFP/File

Cameron acknowledged the growing problem of young Muslims being enticed by extremist material on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

“There is a role for government in that. We must not allow the Internet to be an ungoverned space,” he said.

“But there is a role for companies too. In the UK we are pushing companies to do more, including strengthening filters, improving reporting mechanisms and being more proactive in taking down this harmful material.

“We are making progress but there is further to go.”

Last month, the European Union, Facebook and Twitter agreed to work together to combat online extremism and discussed steps to block gruesome beheading videos.

US Internet firms have sometimes been uneasy about blocking extremist material, seeing themselves as platforms rather than publications, and worrying about the implications for free speech, which is strongly protected under US law.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

Immigration is a symptom of a much deeper worldwide problem.

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Business

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal infers that some workers might be falling out of the job market altogether.

Business

Traveling in NY is already costly, but it just got worse: transit authorities have approved a controversial $15 toll, set to take effect in...