Britain is bracing for a potential surge of Islamist terrorism as a swath of convicted terrorists are set to be released from prison this year, the Home Office has warned.
According to a counter-terrorism strategy report published this week, between 40 and 50 terrorists are set to be released from prison in Britain this year as their sentences expire, leading to an increased threat that could potentially “last for decades”.
The analysis from the Home Office stated that “by far the biggest terrorist threat comes from Islamism,” which has accounted for 67 per cent of the terror attacks in the UK since 2018 and has represented 75 per cent of the caseload of the MI5 security service.
“Islamist terror groups, including Daesh and al-Qaida, continue to seek to plan and enable attacks in countries such as the UK,” Home Secretary Suella Braverman warned.
Some of the convicted terrorists set to be released this year include some of the first British nationals to have travelled to Syria to fight on behalf of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), including Zubair Sarwa, who has already been released after serving nine years for joining a foreign terror group.
Although the freed terrorists will typically face limits on their freedom upon release with licence restrictions and will likely be monitored to some degree of surveillance by police and security services, it is questionable as to how much resources can be devoted to each individual terrorist. Indeed, as of 2020, MI5 was tasked with monitoring some 43,000 people in Britain with suspected ties to terrorism or holding extremist ideologies.
The Home Office also admitted that the issue of ex-prisoners going on to commit acts of terrorism is not confined to those who were convicted on terror charges, with prisoners in British jails being susceptible to developing the “terrorist mindset” while behind bars and co-mingling with people who hold such views.
The report noted that terror attacks including the 2020 Streatham and Reading attacks, and the 2019 attack at Fishmongers’ Hall were all committed by former prisoners who were jailed on non-terror-related offences.
In addition to the issue of ex-convicts committing acts of terrorism, the Home Office is reported to “fully expect” that terrorists are likely to exploit the illegal boat migrant crisis in the English Channel to sneak into the country, according to The Telegraph.
The national security threats posed by illegals using small boats to enter the country is exacerbated by the fact that many illegal migrants discard their identification documents prior to landing on British shores, thereby, making it harder to identify when bad actors seek to infiltrate the country.
Britain’s lax immigration system has also seen numerous convicted terrorists remain in the country instead of being deported, with pro-open borders judges often using the excuse of potential repercussions in their homelands as a justification for allowing terrorists to remain in the UK.