And many of them are going to come home. Cameron wants to revoke their passports, but he faces a stiff fight in making that happen, and he seems already to know that he is not going to be able to do that, as he is also recommending that returning jihadis be forced to attend “deradicalization programs” — which have already failed in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, and will fail in Britain.
“Passports to Jihad,” Wall Street Journal, September 4, 2014:
Some 600 British citizens are waging jihad in Iraq and Syria with U.K. passports tucked in their pockets. The masked men appearing in Internet videos showing the murders of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff spoke with London accents. So it’s not a moment too soon for Whitehall and other European governments to address the threat such terrorists pose.
David Cameron is calling for the government to restrict or rescind the passports of jihad-bound citizens before they leave the country, and Home Secretary Theresa May has threatened to deprive those Britons already fighting with the Islamic State of their citizenship. The Dutch and Australian governments, among others, are considering similar measures….