UK will not repatriate ISIS suspects in Syria, aims to try them in Iraq: diplomat

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region  — The United Kingdom Ambassador to Iraq told Rudaw Monday that his country has “no policy” for the return of its citizens held in northeastern Syria for alleged ties to the Islamic State (ISIS), but will instead negotiate with Iraqi authorities to try suspects in their country.

Jon Wilks’ comments come after a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) delegation visited northeastern Syria in late August to discuss issues including the management of detained ISIS suspects.

“Our policy is not to bring them back to the UK. We are talking to Iraqi authorities about whether we could deal with this caseload in the region in Iraq. There are issues around the death penalty which make this complicated. We can only do something with Iraq, of course, if Iraqi laws and Iraqi interests are respected,” Wilks told Rudaw’s Shaho Amin in an interview.

When asked about the number of British detainees in Kurdish-held prisons in northeastern Syria, the ambassador said that there are “relatively small numbers […] far less than three figures.”

Wilks said that the UK will manage detainee cases in a way that does not harm countries in the region.

“There are a lot of detainees there [northeastern Syria], some of which have connections to the UK. These are Daesh [Islamic State] fighters or Daesh families. We have to try and manage those cases in a way that does not contribute to an increased threat to us primarily but to any of our allies in the region,” he stressed. 

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls northeastern Syria, has called on the international community to repatriate ISIS suspects and their families.

Adding that they lack the capacity to hold and trial the approximately 10,000 foreign detainees, the SDF have also called for the formation of an international tribune to try ISIS suspects.

US President Donald Trump has also called on his European allies to repatriate their citizens in Syria, to little or no avail. 

Amid European countries’ reluctance to repatriate their nationals, Iraq has offered to trial ISIS on their behalf. Iraq had reportedly asked for close to $2 billion to try foreign ISIS nationals in the country in April, according to AFP.

Iraq handed eleven French nationals the death penalty in trials taking place earlier this year. With Iraq known to have conducted fast trials for ISIS members - often without sufficient evidence - France subsequently faced strong criticism for “outsourcing management of their terrorism suspects to abusive justice systems.”  

The UK has stood firm in its refusal to repatriate citizens suspected of ISIS membership from Syria.

It revoked the passport of Shamima Begum, a teenager who joined ISIS in 2015, and banned the return of British children of ISIS members.

The country has, however, sent a number of delegations to northeastern Syria, meeting with the officials from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), known by most Kurds as Rojava. Details of the meetings have not been disclosed to the media.

A group of British politicians went to the cities of Kobane and Qamishli on August 5 to visit Kurdish women’s battalions and fighters wounded during ISIS war, according to YPG-affiliated Hawar News.

Another delegation visited the NES and the opposition Kurdish National Congress (ENKS) on August 23, reported pro-SDF NPA news agency. The NPA did not give details of the delegation members, but said that they were there to be informed of the latest developments in the region.

In Monday’s interview with Rudaw, the UK ambassador to Iraq said the main aim of the delegation was to discuss what to do with ISIS suspects with NES.

He confessed that there are “no easy solutions” for the British detainees but that they are working on regional countries to deal with the matter.

ISIS’ sweep through vast sections of Syria and Iraq in the summer of 2014 was mostly led by foreign fighters, including Western nationals.