Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2026 to question 3166 on Repatriation: Syria, for what reason her Department does not record information on returning foreign fighters who have been a) arrested and b) prosecuted.

Arrests and prosecutions are matters for the independent police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Where these relate to terrorism offences, the CPS provides relevant data to the Home Office for quarterly publication. This forms part of the official statistics publication on the Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Acts, which are published quarterly on gov.uk.

In 2023, the CPS’s oral evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights explained why they are unable to collect specific data on returning foreign fighters. The main reason for this was that the definition of a returning foreign fighter encompasses many variables, which can make it challenging to provide accurate data. For example, people may return via a third country or non-conflict zone, or may be convicted of offences before or after their travel.

Anyone who seeks to return from taking part in any conflict should expect to be investigated by the police where they are suspected of a crime and, where there is evidence that a crime has been committed, prosecuted.