AFP

London

Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday outlined plans to seize passports from British fighters and stop them returning from fighting overseas, while proposing landing bans on airlines that fail to comply with London’s no-fly lists.

Some 500 Britons are estimated to be fighting in Iraq and Syria, both of which are facing a major offensive from the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

“We will shortly be introducing our own new Counter-Terrorism Bill in the UK,” Cameron said in a speech to Australia’s parliament before travelling to the G20 leaders’ summit in Brisbane, adding that there was “no opt-out from dealing with this”.  These will include “new powers for police at ports to seize passports, to stop suspects travelling and to stop British nationals returning to the UK unless they do so on our terms.

Besides, “new rules to prevent airlines that don’t comply with our no-fly lists or security screening measures from landing in the UK,” will also be included he added.

British media reports said the legislation, to be introduced in parliament this month, would block individuals from returning from Syria and Iraq to Britain for at least two years unless they comply with strict measures.

These could include being escorted back to Britain and then facing prosecution and bail-style reporting conditions. Border guards and airport police would also be given new powers to seize passports from those they suspect of planning to travel abroad for terrorism, the reports said.

Stopping fighters from returning to Britain unless they agree to the requirements would not flout international law, a parliamentarian argued, because the proposed measures fall short of making them stateless.

Prominent lawyer Alex Carlile, a Liberal Democrat who reviewed the validity of anti-terrorism legislation for the government before he was elevated to the House of Lords, told the BBC that taking away the citizenship of Islamic State fighters on the grounds they had committed treason would not stand up to a legal challenge.

But he argued that the measures Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled are likely to hold up in court. Carlile said the measures “will be within the European Convention on Human Rights because they don’t ban a UK citizen from entering the United Kingdom if they have no other nationality, only place restrictions on it.”

The two-year Temporary Exclusion Orders could be renewed by a court and any breaches would be punishable by jail.

Britain raised its terror threat risk level to “severe” in September - meaning an attack is thought “highly likely” - due to fears over the situation in Iraq and Syria.