Foreign Fighters: preventative action (UK mainly)

[davidbfpo]

At last an interview with two UK citizens who went to fight the Assad regime in Syria, not joining ISIS or al-Nusra and who have retiurned:http://www.buzzfeed.com/husseinkesva...reign-fighters

Here is one quote:

...vulnerable young people, especially those who aren’t really practising [Islam], will be attracted to them. The hype about fighting Assad is over, and larger groups like ISIS will have an appeal to these guys – they are in a vulnerable state, and they’re like a sponge, they’ll believe anything.

Another, with my emphasis:

You have all these groups talking about why young people are becoming radicalised and joining groups like ISIS, and there’s no one who can really tell them why what they’re doing is wrong. The groups who are currently talking about deradicalisation have no credibility – you need someone with on the ground experience of the conflict, and people who also believe in the idea of proper jihad … so that you can tell young people what they’re doing isn’t Islamically authentic.

[davidbfpo]

Britain should lay on charter flights to take wannabe British jihadists to Syria so they don’t fester here, a former counter-terrorism police chief has suggested.

You have to think how do you confront it, if you have hundreds or thousands who want to go there and live that life? We should try and convince them not to go. If they want to go, you have to ask the question, are we better off, if they surrender their passports and go? It’s better than them festering away here. “Should we say we’ll lay on charter flights to Syria; turn up with your passport and if you are over 18, if this is the life you want, then go".

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ror-chief.html

[davidbfpo]

A short comment by Richard Barrett, ex-SIS (MI6), who argues we have so far refused to consider this option:

n the wake of Paris, it has become all the more important to determine which returnees present a risk and which do not. This is not only so that authorities can focus scarce resources where they are most needed. It also allows us to identify and seek the help of those that do not present a risk. Many argue that anyone who went to Syria deserves no understanding or mercy on their return; but some of them know that they have made a mistake. They will help us cut the flow of fighters to Syria by helping us understand why they go, why they stay and why they come back. It is these same people who can be more powerful influences than any other on those who may be inclined to join or act on behalf of Isil. Often they have tried it and seen it does not work. They have the credibility and understanding that the rest of us lack. They hold the key to victory.

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ting-Isil.html

[davidbfpo]

Yesterday I had the chance to ask a SME on the flow of foriegn fighters from the UK to Syria and whcih faction they joined:

Of the estimated 800 who have gone out to fight, half went to the non-jihadist groups in the early stages and after the taking of Mosul everyone has gone to join ISIS.

Most UK estimates are that 300 have returned, with a substantial number not being detected by the authorities.

Personally I doubt if any have escaped from ISIS. I would expect expressing doubts would be seen as a threat and they would be killed.

[davidbfpo]

A short BBC radio programme (38 mins) by Gordon Corera, in part explained as:

Gordon Corera explores the British government's response to managing returnees. In the last two years Britain has brought in temporary exclusion orders and is able to confiscate passports to prevent people preparing to travel to Syria.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0742hlf

[davidbfpo]

A short video (12 mins) about five boys - three of them brothers - who left Brighton (UK) to Syria:

Mark Townsend asks why....... to join an al-Qaida affiliated group. What clues were missed? What was it about them that should have alerted the authorities to their potential radicalisation?

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/vid...to-syria-video

There is a longer written "long read". On a first glance I do wonder if this is actually true:

Their journey from the south coast to Syria cannot be reduced to a single factor, but it involves racist abuse, allegations of police neglect, and the collective failure of numerous authorities – both those charged with protecting vulnerable young people, and those charged with preventing radicalisation.

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...to-jihad-syria

What about the factors that persuaded them to go? Brighton can in places be wealthy and has a strong gay community - which may be a factor, not mentioned in the article.

[davidbfpo]

Catching up on my reading I found this early December 2017 article by Shashank Joshi (ex-RUSI), written after the brand new Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson call the day before:

A dead terrorist can’t cause any harm to Britain....I do not believe that any terrorist, whether they come from this country or any other, should ever be allowed back into this country. We should do everything we can do to destroy and eliminate that threat.

Link to Joshi's article:https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ary-not-simple

Link to the report on the Defence Secretary comments:https://www.theguardian.com/politics...vin-williamson

The big snag for the UK is that IIRC four hundred suspected fighters have returned already; a figure officials now cite. Only a fraction have been arrested and prosecuted.