Theresa May refuses to be drawn on Isis runaways' right to return to UK
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Version 0 of 1. The home secretary, Theresa May, has declined to say whether three British jihadi brides reported to be on the run from Islamic State might be allowed back into the UK. When she was asked about the teenagers reported to be missing in Iraq, May said that attempts by British jihadis to return from Syria or Iraq would be decided on a case-by-case basis. She confirmed that some young Britons who went to Syria or Iraq to join Isis have come back after becoming disillusioned. Reports of the girls’ flight appeared on the Facebook page of Mosul Eye, which purports to be written by a blogger in Mosul city, part of the large area straddling the Iraq-Syria border that has been occupied by Isis. On 2 May, Mosul Eye posted: “Three girls, (Foreigners – British) married to Isil [Isis] militants, reported missing, and Isil announced to all its check points to search for them. It is believed that those girls have escaped.” Related: The British women married to jihad In a later post the blogger said: “The latest info I got on them is they are still on the run, but still in Mosul, and Isil is thoroughly searching for them and hasn’t captured them yet. “They are Brits, not immigrants, and they are very young teens (around 16 years old). That’s all I have about them for now.” The information in the report could not be independently verified and the exact identity of the girls and their fate is not known. Reports suggest about 600 people from the UK have gone to join Isis in Syria and Iraq, including young women. In March, the UK’s top counter-terrorism police officer, Helen Ball, revealed that five of the girls who have gone to Syria are aged 15 or 16. Sixty British women, including 18 teenagers, have left the UK to join Isis in that country, she said. Counter-terror officers are aware of the reports but Scotland Yard appears to be treating the blogger’s claims with caution. Three British schoolgirls from Bethnal Green academy – Shamima Begum, Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana – disappeared from their homes in east London in February and flew to Turkey, before crossing the border into Syria. The father of 15-year-old Sharmeena Uddin – another runaway girl and Bethnal Green academy student – said he hoped his daughter was among the trio said to have fled from the jihadis. Mohammed Uddin, 38, said he was desperately seeking information from counter-terrorist police about his daughter, who left home in December and was believed to be in the terrorist stronghold of Raqqa in Syria. He told the Daily Mail: “I hope that it is Sharmeena because she’s 16 at the end of the month. Maybe it’s her. I hope it is.” The three girls claimed by the blogger to be on the run are not believed to be the same three teenagers from Bethnal Green academy who disappeared in February. They are also believed to be in and around Raqqa. In March, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, cleared the way for the three Bethnal Green girls to return home to their families if they can be convinced to do so. He said they can return home without fear of being prosecuted for terrorism as long as no evidence emerges of them committing an offence. Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, head of counter terrorism, said in March: “They have no reason to fear, if nothing else comes to light, that we will be treating them as terrorists.” Rowley said the three girls were different to someone “running around in northern Iraq and Syria with Kalashnikovs” who then apologised for having committed terrorist offences. The three east London girls had kept a low profile until April, when Amira gave her Twitter followers a glimpse into life under jihadist rule by posting a picture of a takeaway meal of chicken, chips, pizza and kebabs. She captioned it: “dawla [Islamic State] takeaway w/@um-ayoub12”. Her dinner companion, who describes herself as a 16 years old, replied: “uh wanna behead some kaffirs [non Muslims] now”. Asked whether the girls would be permitted to return to the UK, May told ITV1’s Good Morning Britain on Wednesday: “I’m not able to talk about individual cases. Obviously there are young people who go to Syria, some of whom find that what they see there is not what they thought it was going to be. “We look on a case-by-case basis, and people have come back – youngsters who have gone there and suddenly realise what a mistake they’ve made.” |