Children of British men and women who went to Syria to fight for ISIS could become “serious terrorists”, the chairman of an independent counter-terrorism commission has claimed.
With up to 40 children of UK citizens trapped in Syria, the British government had to take the responsibility for repatriating and re-educating them, said Sir Declan Morgan, a retired judge who led work on the report on the UK adopting a different approach to terrorism.
He said the Syrian state had chosen not to accept responsibility for the group. “That means they are effectively stateless and the danger is that these children are actually going to turn out to be serious terrorists,” he said, speaking at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London.
“We can sit back and hope we're not around when all of this comes to pass but we really need to get real about the fact that it is something that as a state, we have a responsibility to address.”
The children are mostly aged 10 or younger; their parents are an estimated 10 British men and 15 to 20 British women who are believed to be in camps or other detention centres in Syria.
Dominic Grieve, Britain’s former attorney general and one of the report’s authors speaking at Rusi, said it was “worth bearing in mind that the United States, Canada and Australia” had all managed the process of repatriation.
“The United Kingdom really stands out as the one country that is refusing to do this, and I agree entirely with what that was just said about the potential long-term consequences."
He later told The National the former ISIS Britons were “a problem coming down the track” for the UK and while some of the men were committed terrorists, there “really is a serious concern that their children could turn out that way, too”.
Other European states have taken back more 1,200 people, almost half of those by France, which has caused some tension in the country.
Among others from Britain who joined ISIS were Mohammed Emwazi. He was one of the gang of four “Beatles” who beheaded several western hostages and was killed in a US air strike in 2015.
Shamima Begum was one of three schoolgirls who left London for Syria in 2015 aged 15. She had three children in Syria, all of whom died. She is in a long-running legal battle to regain her citizenship after it was revoked by the Theresa May government on national security grounds in 2019.
More than 900 people from Britain travelled to Syria during the civil war that began in 2011, with the majority joining ISIS. Of those not killed, about half are thought to have returned home. There are 18 children and three women from Al Hol and Al Roj camps in Syria who were formally repatriated by the UK following the ISIS’ collapse in 2019.
But a report by the Independent Commission on Counter-Terrorism Law, Policy and Practice deemed the UK’s approach to the remaining 70 to be “increasingly untenable” with camp conditions in Syria documented by the UN as “inhuman, dangerous, and degrading”.
Many women and children were victims of “coercion, trafficking, or exploitation” and some had potentially been coerced into terror activity.
Therefore, the British government should adopt a repatriation policy that would be in “the best interests of the children”, the report said.
Other countries had demonstrated that structured repatriation “combined with prosecution where appropriate” along “robust rehabilitation and reintegration programmes can effectively manage security risks while upholding human rights”.
“A coherent, humane and security-conscious repatriation strategy would strengthen compliance with international obligations, and promote long-term public safety and social stability,” the report said.
On Tuesday a teenager was charged with a terrorism offence, having been accused of attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS after an arrest was made at London's Gatwick Airport.
The Metropolitan Police said Chafik Aziz, 18, of south London, was charged on Tuesday under terrorism laws after an investigation led by Counter Terrorism Policing London.
Meanwhile, a German court on Tuesday sentenced three Syrian men to prison for involvement in a foreign terrorist group during the civil war after a trial that lasted more than a year.
The three defendants, identified only as Amer Tarak A., Sohail A. and Basel O., received sentences from four and a half to nearly 10 years at court in Munich.
All three belonged to an armed rebel group called Liwa Jund al-Rahman, which Amer Tarak A. allegedly founded, and two were also found guilty of war crimes.
The group fought against Syrian president at the time Bashar Al Assad and later merged with ISIS.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Breast cancer in men: the facts
1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.
2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.
3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.
4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.
5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Lecce v SPAL (6pm)
Bologna v Genoa (9pm)
Atlanta v Roma (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Hellas Verona (3.30pm)
Juventus v Brescia (6pm)
Sampdoria v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sassuolo v Parma (6pm)
Cagliari v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
Monday
AC Milan v Torino (11.45pm)
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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Specs%20
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
Liverpool's all-time goalscorers
Ian Rush 346
Roger Hunt 285
Mohamed Salah 250
Gordon Hodgson 241
Billy Liddell 228
Gifts exchanged
- King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
- Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
- Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
- Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
If%20you%20go
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ENGLAND TEAM
England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph
Third Test
Result: India won by 203 runs
Series: England lead five-match series 2-1
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
