It emerged that around 425 of 850 jihadis who had gone abroad to support Islamic State have since returned to the UK.
Speaking in Parliament, Labour MP John Woodcock demanded answers: “Are more than 400 of those returning individuals in jail or going through the court system?
“We simply do not know, because the Government will not release the figures, despite repeated requests. There is strong demand from the public to know how many who travelled to fight foreign jihad are currently free in British communities. Those men and women are escaping justice, despite having been prepared to fight British troops in the name of a sickeningly evil cause.
“If they are not locked up or deradicalised, they are potentially able to import back to British streets brutal killing techniques learned on the battlefield.”
Victoria Atkins, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vulnerability, Safeguarding and Countering Extremism, was questioned about the jihadists: “Can the Minister tell me, or get her colleague to write to me on, the proportion of the 850 individuals who are no longer deemed to be of national security concern and whether any of them have been tried?”
Atkins responded alarmingly: “As we have stated previously in the House, we know that more than 850 UK-linked individuals of national security concern travelled to engage with the Syrian conflict.
“We estimate that over 15 percent of those who travelled have been killed in fighting in the region and just under half have returned to the UK. A significant proportion of those individuals who have already returned are assessed as no longer being of national security concern.”
Atkins continued: “The Government have been clear throughout the conflict that any British national who has travelled to Syria or Iraq and chosen to fight for Daesh has made themselves a legitimate target while in the conflict zone.”
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