Asked by: Lord Noon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many United Kingdom passports have been removed during the last 12 months from British citizens thought to be involved in the support of ISIL and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.
Answered by Lord Bates
Persons may be refused a British passport or may have their existing passport withdrawn on a number of grounds, including that their grant or continued enjoyment of passport facilities is contrary to the public interest. Public interest grounds include seeking to harm the UK or its allies by travelling on a British passport to, for example, engage in terrorism-related activity.
From November 2013 to 11 November 2014, the Royal Prerogative power to withdraw or refuse a British Passport has been exercised 21 times on public interest grounds against British citizens thought to be involved in the support of ISIL and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.
Asked by: Lord Noon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their current estimate of the number of British-born jihadists who have gone to fight in support of extremist groups in Syria and Iraq; and how that figure compares with estimates by other western governments of numbers of their citizens who have gone to fight.
Answered by Lord Bates
We believe that approximately 500 individuals from the UK have now travelled to the region since the start of the conflict. It is estimated half of these have returned. Not all of these individuals will have been involved in fighting.Recent comparable estimates of travellers/fighters for selected countries where some data has been reported publically are as follows:
o France: over 700
o Germany: 400
o Belgium: 300
o Netherlands: 130
o Austria: 140
o Denmark: over 100
o USA: just over 100
o Canada: Roughly 100
o Sweden: 80
o Spain: 60
o Australia: at least 60.
Asked by: Lord Noon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to use prerogative powers to refuse or remove United Kingdom passports from British citizens who are suspected of being involved in or looking to be involved in fighting, extremist activity or terrorist training overseas.
Answered by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The Royal Prerogative is an important tool to disrupt individuals who seek to travel on a British passport to engage in, for example, fighting, extremist activity or terrorist training overseas and might return to the UK.
The Prerogative power has been exercised 14 times between April 2013 and the end of March 2014 on public interest grounds to disrupt the travel of individuals seeking to engage in terrorism related activity or other serious and organised crime.
Any decision to refuse or withdraw a British passport is made after careful consideration and the decision must be necessary and proportionate.