Confiscating Jihadis' Passports 'Could Encourage Terrorism At Home'

The policy of confiscating the passports of radical Muslims has been called into question after it was revealed both terrorist attacks in Canada were perpetrated by people stripped of their travel documents. Martin Couture-Rouleau and Michael Zehaf-Bibeau were both prevented from travelling to Syria to join ISIS, and so instead attacked targets at home instead.

Now analysts have warned that the policy of taking passports could leave Britain vulnerable to similar attacks, according to the Times. 

The removal of passports has been a central part of the Home Secretary, Theresa May’s policy on curbing terrorism. The idea behind it is that preventing radicals going to Syria will prevent them being trained in sophisticated terror methods. The Home Office has used the powers under the royal prerogative 23 times in the last 12 months.

In both the recent cases of terrorism in Canada, the attacks were low tech. Martin Couture-Rouleau ran over a solider whilst Michael Zehaf-Bibeau went on a rampage with a gun. Neither of these men needed any specialist training, and it is now accepted that militants favour low tech attacks as they are easier to organise and conceal.

Professor Anthony Glees of the University of Buckingham said: “Seizing passports doesn’t make much sense because the those who want to go out to fight for the murderous [Islamic State] are, by definition, already jihadists. Stopping them from fighting isn’t going to change what they’ve already decided they want to do and may, indeed, increase the fanaticism to which they have already succumbed.”

A former counterterrorism officer said: “Let them go, monitor their travel and intervene when they try to return — that would be better than caging them up here and maybe provoking them into lashing out.”

As previously reported on Breitbart London, David Cameron is determined to expand the royal prerogative so more passports can be confiscated and at much shorter notice. The Prime Minister also wants to see jihadis prevented from returning to the United Kingdom.

So far the immigration service has been required to allow terrorists back into the country providing they are British citizens. If this situation is reversed there will be much less reason to stop people travelling to Syria and Iraq.