200 ‘Britons’ join Muslim terrorists in Syria

Each year hundreds of thousands of British parents, even millions of us, wave our children off at the airport or the harbour or the railway station, as they begin the adventure of a first holiday abroad on their own. This year my own children will be heading off to the south of France to stay in a mobile home together. The greatest risk they are likely to face is sunburn, or the frustrations of being in close confinement.

But there are other young adults setting off for rather different adventures, with much greater risks. Not the students taking a ‘Year Out’ to travel to the Far East, or to volunteer in a school in Peru, although there are risks enough associated with such activities. But those determined to set off for conflict zones around the world where they can engage in jihad. The real, bloody, violent jihad of Muslims shooting, bombing and beheading people.

Michael Adebolajo, the ‘alleged’ murderer of Drummer Lee Rigby, was detained by the police near the Kenyan border with Somalia because he had attempted to join the terrorost group, al-Shabaab. Today we learn that Ali Al-Manasifi, a 22 year old described as a British national, has been killed while fighting with Al-Qaeda elements in Syria. If there were just these two wayward young adults fighting with terrorists or seeking to join a terrorist group abroad then it could be understood why there appears to be no robust process for dealing with such people. But in fact there is a long history of people with various connections with Britain, from asylum seekers to British citizens, choosing to travel abroad to fight with the enemies of Britain, and the British way of life.

In 2010 the Daily Telegraph reported that it had evidence that at least 20 British Muslims, all passport holders, were in Pakistan training with al-Qaeda to mount Mumbai style atrocities in British cities. It  would appear that an unmanned US drone attack killed several Britons in a training camp in Pakistan at this time. Among them was a Briton, Abdul Jabbar, who had been elected leader of a UK al-Qaeda group called the Islamic Army of Great Britain.

But these sorts of terrorism related overseas trips have been going on for many years prior to 2010. The Algerian journalist Reda Hussaine writes..

I watched young Muslims at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London in the late 1990s being prepared for journeys to military camps. Money was raised for their air fares by selling books and films in stalls at the mosques.

Indeed at this time, in 1998, 8 British Muslims were arrested and convicted in the Yemen. They were found guilty of organising terrorist attacks against British targets in Yemen and of kidnapping a group of tourists. These 8 British Muslim terrorists were trained in terrorist camps which were sponsored by al-Qaeda.

This might all be considered a matter of historical regret. But in fact the present situation in Syria poses a real and present danger to the security and safety of the British people. It is estimated that up to 200 British Muslims are presently in Syria fighting with terrorist organisations there. Not only fighting, but engaged in the most brutal atrocities against civilians and minority communities. Each one represents a trained and qualified terrorist with experience in death and destruction.

We must consider carefully what it is that we require of our Government in these cases. Will they be allowed to walk the streets and preach hatred, as Michael Adebolajo had been doing in the years between his failed attempt to join Muslim terrorists in Somalia and his ‘alleged’ murderous assault on Drummer Lee Rigby? Will they be allowed to attend British mosques, basking in the misdirected glory of their bloody hands, inciting others to follow their example?

Surely we must insist that anyone reasonably suspected of having travelled to a country for reasons of terrorism must be refused entry to the UK if not a British citizen, and placed under arrest if a British citizen until the case can be properly investigated. The Terrorism Act 2006 already makes any involvement in training or the commission of terrorism a criminal offence. Indeed an offence is committed simply by being present at any place where training for terrorism is conducted.

So the question is, what is the Government doing in relation to the perhaps 200 British nationals who have travelled to Syria to engage in training for terrorism and the commission of terrorism? These people are already liable to immediate arrest and detention on suspicion of such offence. The Act makes it clear that committing acts abroad which would be criminal in the UK is a crime. But what will the Government do? It allowed Michael Adebolajo back into the country and gave him the liberty to ‘allegedly’ attempt to behead a British soldier on the streets of Woolwich. Will it allow 200 much more experienced young Muslims, trained in all manner of terrorist practices, to simply come home as if they had been on a ‘Gap Year’? Will their parents meet them at the airport as if nothing had happened?

Now is the time for us to pressure our MPs to apply the Terrorism Act forcefully and effectively. If we only hope that they will do the right thing, and say nothing, then we can expect to be disappointed, and then horrified, as one or more of these British terrorists decides to put their training into practice.