The US has called on countries like Britain to bring home and prosecute citizens suspected of fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) as pressure grows to deal with captured foreign fighters before American troops leave Syria.
Around 2,000 jihadists are being held in prisons across northern Syria by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-led fighting group which has pushed Isil back with the help of Western airpower.
Among them are two British members of “The Beatles” squad, who murdered several Western hostages on camera, as well as at least other four other British men and seven women. Around 12 British children are also being held.
In a statement released on Monday, the US State Department said countries had a responsibility to take their citizens out of SDF custody and bring them home to stand trial.
“The United States calls upon other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens detained by the SDF and commends the continued efforts of the SDF to return these foreign terrorist fighters to their countries of origin,” the statement said.
The UK and other nations are reluctant to bring suspects home out of fear that they cannot be successfully prosecuted in domestic courts. In some cases, evidence against the suspects is based on intelligence gathered by spies which cannot be used in a criminal proceedings.
In the case of El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, the two surviving “Beatles”, the Crown Prosecution Service has warned that prosecutions against them would likely “collapse due to process reasons”.
Both men have been stripped of their British citizenship and the Home Office is hoping that the US will take them and prosecute them in America. British officials even dropped their objection to the death penalty in the hopes it would smooth efforts to extradite them to the US.
In other cases, prosecutors believe that the best they can hope for is convicting the men of membership of a terrorist organisation, a lesser charge that could see them released after only a few years in prison.
Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces from Syria has brought a fresh urgency to the question of foreign fighters in SDF prisons.
The SDF have warned that they may not be able to keep holding the prisoners after US forces withdraw, especially if they are forced to divert troops to help fight a Turkish offensive against Kurdish areas in northern Syria.
The US is trying to convince Turkey not to attack the SDF. But it is also putting pressure on the UK and other countries to do something about their foreign fighters before American forces withdraw.
The French government said last month it would consider bringing home suspected French jihadists in light of the US withdrawal. French media reported that could mean repatriating around 130 people, including Isil suspects as well as their wives and children.
One possibility is that the SDF might have the suspects over to the Assad regime as it reasserts control over most of Syria. The regime has an atrocious record of torturing prisoners but has also released jihadists in the past to undermine its more moderate rebel opponents.