Detention of jihadis in Syria could lead to a resurgence of Daesh, says former minister

A FORMER defence minister has criticised the UK government's move to deprive Daesh (Islamic State) members of their British citizenship.

Tobias Ellwood, who was sacked as defence minister by Boris Johnson, believes that detention of thousands of jihadis in Syria could lead to a resurgence of Daesh, the Independent reported on Monday (26).

“We’ll see Daesh 2.0,” he warned. “We’ll see a repeat of al-Qaeda regrouping and becoming a very real threat, and that threat won’t just pose itself in the Middle East, but also to Britain.”

“We’ve done well to stand up as a lead nation on the battlefield in defeating Daesh and the caliphate, but the last piece of the jigsaw is 20,000 or so fighters that nobody really wants.

“They will regroup to fight another day – we’re already seeing it.”

Ellwood's comments come after Shamima Begum and Jack Letts were stripped off their British citizenships.

In February, Begum, a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin, asked to be allowed to return home with her infant son. Then home secretary Sajid Javid responded by removing her British citizenship. Her child died of pneumonia shortly after.

The UK government has been criticised for stripping Daesh fighters of their British citizenship, with Labour's shadow home secretary Diane Abbot saying it was "not justice in any sense."

“We are not in favour of making people stateless, that’s a punishment without due process," she was quoted as saying by the Independent.

“Simply removing citizenship may please ministers, but it isn’t justice in any sense. Government ministers shouldn’t offload Britain’s responsibilities to other countries," she added.

Kurdish authorities have urged nations to take up their duty to repatriate foreign fighters, saying the thousands of detained Daesh fighters and their families were a “big burden.”

Abdel Karim Omar, a Kurdish foreign affairs official, said: “They belong to 49 countries, and they don’t have documents and passports,” he said earlier this year.

“We cannot bear this responsibility alone. We ask the international community and the countries to which Isis members belong to take up its moral and legal duty and repatriate their citizens back to their countries.”