Since the collapse of the Islamic State in 2019, thousands of people associated with the group have been detained in camps in northern Syria [GETTY]
The UK government should consider letting British members of the Islamic State return to the UK, the government’s independent terrorism legislation reviewer said on Friday.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight, Jonathan Hall KC said the government needs to look at the bigger picture when it comes to repatriating people and national security.
“Repatriation would not be moral absolution, if someone came back it wouldn’t prevent them from potentially being prosecuted for what they’ve done,” Hall said.
“It could be quite a pragmatic decision in the overall interests of national security to bring someone back.
Hall also said, however, that there is a national security benefit to leaving IS members in Syria because they would not have to be monitored. But on the other hand, Hall noted that there have not yet been any attacks by someone who was repatriated in this way in Europe.
“If they are left there… and then they escape, they would be much more dangerous, actually, to the UK,” Hall said.
Since the territorial defeat of the Islamic State in 2019, thousands of people associated with the group have been detained in camps in northern Syria.
Since the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December, there have been questions surrounding the future of the camps holding IS members. The UK said it was keeping an eye on British jihadists in Syria.
One of the most prominent people in the camps is Shamima Begum, who was stripped of her UK citizenship in 2019 and has exhausted her legal means to appeal to return.
Hall said politicians should look at the bigger picture regarding the balance of national security when asked about Begum.
Hall’s comments come as UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy rejected calls to repatriate Begum despite a surprising call from US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming counter-terrorism chief, Sebastian Gorka, who has a history of Islamophobic statements.
Speaking to The Times, Gorka said that if the UK wanted to be “seen as a serious ally and friend” of the US, then it should take back its citizens who joined the IS.
Lammy dismissed the possibility however, telling ITV: “Shamima Begum will not be coming back to the UK. It’s gone right through the courts. She’s not a UK national.”
The foreign secretary added that any British national who did return from Syria would “have to be, frankly, jailed as soon as they arrived”.
The leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, said he had been “thoughtful” when asked whether Begum should return.
However, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said that she, as leader, would “never take back” Begum.
In May 2024, the US and many European countries repatriated some of their citizens from the camps before they were put on trial or imprisoned.
