Britain is keeping a ‘close eye’ on British jihadists in Syria
reutersA Home Office minister has said any possibility of British jihadists returning from Syria would be “worrying” and that Britain is keeping a “very close eye” on the situation.
Border Security and Asylum Minister Dame Angela Eagle said the government was monitoring the “very volatile” situation in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Most of the foreign fighters detained in Syria are being held in Kurdish-controlled camps in the north-east, where rebel rebel groups do not have a presence.
Although there is no indication that the security situation in those camps will change immediately, Dame Angela said British intelligence services will be “watching very, very closely”.
Dozens of British jihadists are believed to be being held hostage in north-east Syria after they were captured fighting for the Islamic State group.
Asked about the influx of asylum claims from pro-Assad fighters, as well as the possibility of them returning to Britain, Dame Angela told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Of course it’s a concern and it’s a “It’s a concern that we continue to address.” ,
“Obviously our security services will keep an eye on anything like this and we communicate and cooperate with our neighbours.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said jihadists held in camps in Syria were a “key focus for Britain”.
“We are working with the US and our allies to monitor the situation on the ground,” he said.
Rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have been freeing prisoners from prisons in areas previously held by the Assad regime that are now under their control in northwestern, central and southern Syria.
But they do not currently operate in north-eastern Syria, which is mostly controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led militia coalition backed by the United States.
The SDF is holding about 10,000 fighters in 26 detention facilities, and also holds about 46,000 IS affiliates, most of them women and children, in al-Hol and Roj camps.
The primary threat to jihadists breaking out of prison in north-eastern Syria comes from Turkey putting pressure on the Syrian Kurds protecting them to release them. However, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said there was no indication of that happening at the moment.
Given the rapidly changing situation in Syria, he said, there is an inherent risk that IS and al-Qaeda may try to take advantage of the confusion and expand their area of operations in northern Syria.
The Turkish government opposes the presence of SDF forces near its border because it considers the largest militia in the coalition a terrorist organization. He sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK rebel group fighting in Türkiye.
Turkish-backed rebel groups fighting under the banner of the Syrian National Army (SNA) and Turkish troops have captured several areas along the border from the YPG and SDF in a series of attacks during the civil war.
When HTS-led rebels launched a lightning offensive to overthrow Assad, the SNA launched a separate attack on SDF-held areas north of Aleppo city. So far, they have driven the SDF out of Tal Rifaat and Manbij, and Syrian Kurds fear that more areas under their control will now come under attack.
In the days following the fall of Assad’s government, the US launched airstrikes against IS targets in central Syria, where the group maintains a limited presence.
High-profile cases of British residents leaving Britain to join jihadists in Syria include Shamima Begum, who traveled from London at the age of 15 to support the group in 2015.
Begum’s British citizenship was revoked in 2019, leaving her unable to return to the UK.
The 24-year-old, who is being held in a camp in northern Syria, Loses her final UK court appeal challenging the stripping of her citizenship in August.
Asked exclusively about Begum’s case on BBC Breakfast, Dame Angela said: “I have no views I can share publicly.
“The courts have decided that he does not have the right to return. He has lawyers who are entitled to make a claim.”
On Monday, Britain announced it would pause adjudication on ongoing asylum claims by Syrians seeking to settle in Britain fleeing Assad’s regime.
Dame Angela told BBC Breakfast that there was “no basis for judgment” on the claims as the country was “in a period of transition”.
“The majority of Syrians who came and claimed asylum in the last few years were fleeing the Assad regime, which has now collapsed and is gone,” he said.
Asked about the more than 5,000 Syrians awaiting asylum decisions in Britain, Dame Angela told Today: “We can’t make decisions on those cases.”
He said Britain was not planning to send people back to Syria because the situation in the country was too “volatile”.
“Countries have to be safe and determined by our procedures before they can even consider withdrawal,” he said.
With future relations between the West and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group leading the Syrian rebel coalition, still unclear, deciding whether Britain considers Syria a safe place to return to is a complex diplomatic decision.
Declaring Syria a safe state would be a process that would take time and would likely require some form of relationship with Syria’s new leadership, which does not currently exist.
The UK government appears to be refusing to grant time-limited leave to remain for Syrians, meaning those awaiting a decision will continue to live in expensive asylum accommodation until the situation in the Middle East becomes clearer.
Additional reporting by political reporter Jack Fenwick
