Creating consensus on Brits fighting against Daesh – Robert Jenrick MP
Aden Simpson
| PoliticsHome
Ahead of his debate this evening, Conservative MP Robert Jenrick calls for more fair and consistent treatment of British citizens who return from fighting against Daesh.
When Aiden Aslin landed at Heathrow after almost a year fighting alongside the Kurds against Daesh, he, like many others in his position, had expected a warm welcome home.
Instead, Nottinghamshire Police arrested the 22-year-old under the Terrorism Act before he could get off the plane, and over two months later it is still unclear whether he will face prosecution.
The incident has raised a number of concerns for Aslin’s local MP, Robert Jenrick. Cases of Britons joining Daesh are well reported and as it is a proscribed terrorist organisation, the Home Office has clear policy for preventing such recruitment, and procedures of arresting and monitoring individuals when they return.
For those joining the ‘right’ side however, their legal status is far less clear. The Home Office holds no official position on how they should be dealt with, and it rests with local police forces to decide their fate.
“Aiden was the genesis of my interest, but it’s really a wider issue than one individual,” said the Newark MP. “We don’t really have a clear policy on how we treat these individuals: How strongly do we discourage British citizens from going out there? And when these individuals come back, are they criminals likely to be charged under the Terrorism Act? Or are they free to re-enter society, and in some cases be celebrated as heroes who have done something very brave?”
Such questions have been asked before in UK history. The Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 prevents British citizens from enlisting in a foreign army at war with another state currently at peace with the UK. This did not stop several thousand Britons fighting in the Spanish civil war. Although as Jenrick points out, instead of the hero’s welcome that many expected, they were often met with discrimination and suspicion, and barred from enlisting in the British forces.
“It actually taps into a much older issue,” he added. “We’ve never really, as a society, come to a position about how feel about British citizens doing this.”
The fact that Daesh is not a state at peace with the UK does not make their status any clearer. Like many other foreigners fighting against Daesh, Aslin joined the YPG - or Kurdish People’s Protection Units - which has close links with the PKK - itself a proscribed terrorist group.
“The network of forces and militias who are in one sense our ally is very fragmented,” said the Tory MP. “And some of these groups, like the Kurdish Peshmerga, we are more comfortable with than others.”
“There are strongly diverging views on the YPG. Some people think they’re doing something very important, while Amnesty International have claimed they are committing war crimes and terrorist acts.”
Turkey views the YPG as simply an offshoot of the PKK, and is reportedly making diplomatic efforts to convince the Iraqis to take a hard line against the group, and its foreign fighters. Not only does this further complicate their legal status, it puts them in more danger as they often rely on the Iraqi authorities to get them out of Syria, into Iraq, and back to the UK.
“If correct, this reconfirms that British citizens who chose to go out there are not just entering a war zone,” added Jenrick, “but getting themselves in the thick of a complicated diplomatic and political situation.”
Perhaps most concerning of all, a point Jenrick will raise on Tuesday, is the ease at which the YPG and other groups can recruit British citizens, and the speed at which recruits can then get out there.
The YPG has a very active social media presence, legitimately recruiting Brits through its Facebook page while “painting a one-sided picture of what the experience would be like and who they’ll be fighting alongside.” From there, often young and vulnerable people, are able to fly out for as little as £400, even after explaining to UK authorities what they intend to do.
“It must be concerning to us that hundreds of British citizens are so freely able to Google-search their way into one of the most complicated warzones of modern times, almost within days. And so I think it’s time the government gave this issue some thought, and came up with a fair and consistent policy.”
“The simplest thing for the UK to do,” he said. “Is to strongly discourage British citizens from doing this, and to give clearer guidance that we don’t think this is a good idea, and that they are likely to be arrested under the Terrorism Act when they return, so they know what they’re getting themselves into.”
He also suggests working with Kurdish authorities to ensure foreign fighters are not recruited, and if they are, they are guided towards legitimate forces in the Kurdish Peshmerga, rather than towards forces “where their legal status upon return is in some doubt.”
“With the internet and cheap flights we’re actually entering an age where it is extremely easy to make contact with these militias and get out to obscure conflict zones,” he went on. “And as we become an even more diverse society, you have to think there will be many more individuals doing this, on a regular basis, in the years to come in different conflicts.”
