The UK government on Monday announced a fresh crackdown on its nationals travelling to Islamic State (ISIS) territory in Syria in the wake of the Shamima Begum case.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said that the new Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act will give him powers to “designate” a region anywhere in the world and make it an offence for British nationals to be there.
“I’ve asked my officials to work closely with CT [Counter-Terrorism] policing and intelligence agencies to urgently review the case for exercising this power in relation to Syria, with a particular focus on Idlib and the North East," he said in a speech on national security at Scotland Yard headquarters in London.
“So, anyone who is in these areas without a legitimate reason should be on notice. I can also see that there may be a case in the future for considering designating parts of West Africa,” he said.
The Act follows the high-profile case of British schoolgirl Shamima Begum, who had travelled to the ISIS-controlled region over four years ago before discovery in a detention camp earlier this year.
She has since been stripped of her British citizenship on the basis of her Bangladeshi heritage despite Bangladesh categorically denying she has any right to dual nationality or entry into its region.
Begum, who is now 19 years old and recently lost her new-born son to illness in a Syrian refugee camp, remains in the region as her London-based family launched a legal bid to bring her back.
“Deprivation is never a step that is taken lightly… When we assess that someone poses a real threat, we will work to stop them from returning. Sometimes to do that I have to deprive people of their British nationality,” said Javid.
If the Syrian regions are designated under the new UK act, Britons detained by the Western-backed Syrian Defence Forces will be deemed unable to leave and return to the UK.
A person already in a designated area at the time of designation will not commit an offence if they leave the area within one month of such an order being made.
Other exemptions have been written into the legislation, passed by the UK Parliament last month, to protect those who have a legitimate reason for being in a designated area or conducting research online, such as journalists.
During his speech, Javid also revealed how Britain’s security forces had foiled 19 major terror attacks in the past two years – 14 of them Islamist, and five of them motivated by extreme right-wing ideologies - but that despite the impressive work of the security forces, the "tempo" of terrorist activity is increasing.
He announced the appointment of Barrister Jonathan Hall as the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.
“With the threat from terrorism continuing to evolve and diversify, it is vital we have robust oversight to ensure our counter-terrorism laws are fair, necessary and proportionate,” said Javid.
As part of the new role, Hall will be required to provide an annual report on his findings which the government must lay before Parliament and publish.