Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy was on UK citizens travelling to fight in Libya during the war in that country which began in 2011, including the placing of restrictions on people wishing to travel there.

The Government’s priority is the safety and security of the UK and the people who live here.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advise against all travel to Libya. This advice has been in place consistently since 2014. During the 2011 conflict, FCDO clearly advised against all travel to Libya, however, in light of the improving security situation between September 2011 and 2014, the FCDO downgraded advice in some areas, including Tripoli and Benghazi, to advise against all but essential travel. A range of tools are available to disrupt those who wish to engage in criminal activity abroad. Since 2013, royal prerogative powers can be exercised against British passport holders to refuse to issue or cancel a British passport on public interest grounds.

To counter the threat we face from people travelling for terrorism-related purposes, schedule 1 to the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 enables police officers at ports to seize and temporarily retain travel documents to disrupt immediate travel, when they reasonably suspect that a person intends to travel to engage in terrorism related activity outside of the UK.

Depending on the nature of activity and the circumstances in which it was carried out, travel to engage in overseas conflict could potentially give rise to offences under UK law, including terrorism offences, and war crimes. Where individuals do return, they should expect to be investigated and, where there is evidence that crimes have been committed, they should expect to face prosecution. Any decision to prosecute will be a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) - both the police and CPS are operationally independent of Government.