EU calls for joint efforts to increase control on combatants returning from Syria
13/12/2013
Balkan states are strengthening security measures and
adopting new sanctions to control the movement of their citizens
fighting in Syria.
By Linda Karadaku for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 13/12/13
 Authorities
and experts in the region are concerned about the increased number of
Balkan volunteers fighting on the side of the rebels in Syria. [AFP]
|
The European Union is growing increasingly concerned about Islamic
extremists from the region who joined the fighting in Syria and are now
returning home, bringing a more radicalised and dangerous element into
Europe.
"The phenomenon is particularly worrying," French Interior Minister Manuel Valls told The Associated Press.
The office of the EU Counter-Terrorism Co-ordinator Gilles de
Kerchove delivered a note to the EU ministers last week, asking for
"better use of airline passenger information available to security
officials to keep track of when and how rebels move to Syria" and a
series of other measures including a "crackdown legally on recruitment
networks," co-operation with third countries including Turkey and
monitoring of internet activities.
The EU ministers have agreed on the need for "a more integrated
approach on information exchange, as well as the detection and pursuit
of jihadist movements" and appealed for a "rapid adoption of a new
European strategy to fight radicalism."
The union sees the situation as a major security threat.
"They are not some romantic freedom fighters," Britain's counter-terrorism chief Helen Ball said.
About 2,000 fighters from Europe are believed to be fighting in Syria
with the rebel forces, an increase since the spring, when estimates
placed the number at 600 to 800. About 500 fighters from Balkan
countries, "highlighting the contribution from small nations like Bosnia
and Kosovo," are believed to be involved, according to the EU official
quoted by the AP.
The official noted that there were "80 to 100" fighters from Kosovo. Speaking to
SETimes,
Kosovo police confirmed that some Kosovo citizens are involved in the
fighting in Syria, but officials said this number is "small."
On December 4th, Kosovo media reported that police at Pristina's
airport detained a Kosovo Albanian fighter returning from Syria, who
arrived from Turkey. Kosovo police have not confirmed or denied the
detention. Specialists are analysing possible risks to the security of
the country, closely co-operating with the prosecutor's office for the
further steps.
"There is information for some returns," Kosovo police said in a statement for
SETimes.
"The fact that some people from Kosovo have been involved in the
fighting in Syria represents concern that danger might increase because
these volunteers can bring back to Kosovo as well these elements or this
spirit."
However, Kosovo police assessed that the state does not presently
face a high-level danger of terrorism, although "Kosovo is not immune
[to it], as any other state."
Kosovo legislation has no sanctions for citizens who are involved in
armed conflicts outside the country, however, as Seb Bytyci, executive
director of the Balkan Policy Institute in Pristina noted, some states
have considered arresting those who have gone to fight in Syria.
"Something like that can be done … or a new law can be drafted," Bytyci told
SETimes.
On December 5th, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) approved amendments to
its criminal code that prohibit the departure of BiH citizens to foreign
battlefields. The amendment proposed by Minister of Security Fahrudin
Radoncic, foresees prison sentences for all those who organise, recruit,
promote or directly participate in armed conflicts outside BiH.
According to BiH's Secret Service Agency, about 350 BiH citizens are currently fighting in Syria.
According to the amendment, those who recruit fighters and organise
their movement from BiH to foreign battlefields will receive the highest
punishment -- 10 years in prison, while the fighters themselves can get
a minimum three years in prison after they come back to the country.
"I fully support this amendment," Mehmed Bradaric, a member of BiH's Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Security told
SETimes.
"Those people represent danger for their families first of all and then
danger for the entire society. There are law enforcements in BiH which
will bring those people to justice. We shouldn't deal with this from
next month, like in all other things, but right now, today."
Authorities in the neighbouring Serbia are also proposing legal
measures to sanction their citizens fighting in Syria. Serbian Deputy
Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic advocated the idea of criminalising both the
fighter recruiting process, as well as organisation of their departure
to Syria.
"Five-year prison sentences should be sanctioned for the organisers and three-year sentences to those who go," Ljajic told
SETimes.
"We have to anticipate the returns [of fighters from Syria], the ways
to handle this, the prevention measures and especially the exchange of
information on the travels," Belgian Interior Minister Joelle Milquet
told the
AP.
EU interior ministers are looking to co-operate closer with Syria's
neighbour Turkey to assist "in improving controls at borders and
airports" and to do more "to help in preventing radicalisation of
individuals, especially in refugee camps."
The Turkish daily
Radikal has reported that hundreds of
Turkish youths have fought in Syria, both for extremist opposition
factions including al-Qaeda and the regime. They are typically young
men, many of them from the provinces of Adiyaman, Bingol, Batman, and
Diyarbakir.
Human Rights Watch has called upon Turkey to step up patrols to prevent cross-border movement by armed groups.
"Given that most foreign fighters in these [extremist] groups
reportedly gain access to Syria via Turkey, from which they also smuggle
their weapons, obtain money and other supplies, and retreat to for
medical treatment, Turkey should increase border patrols, restrict entry
of fighters and arm flows to groups credibly found to be implicated in
systematic human rights violations," the monitoring group said in a
recent report.
Turkish officials, who have opposed the Syrian regime, have strongly
objected to any suggestion that they have co-operated with extremist
groups entering Syria. Turkey hosts more than 600,000 Syrian refugees,
including more than 200,000 located in refugee camps.
"We have constantly asserted this -- myself, our distinguished prime
minister, and our responsible institutions. Turkey has no relationship
with any radical group in Syria, especially al-Nusra," Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said recently. "This is dirty propaganda advanced by
those who want to overshadow Turkey's humanitarian policies."
Analysts in the region agree that EU member countries have legitimate
concerns about the many volunteers from Europe and the Balkan countries
who fight on the side of the rebels.
"The so-called rebels are closely connected, that is, in coalition
with many terroristic groups, primarily Al-Qaeda," Vladimir Pivovarov,
professor at Skopje FON University told
SETimes. "Their motives
to leave to Syria are different. However, even if they are not members
of some terroristic group, there they will easily be co-opted in the
same. This means the easiest opportunity for the terroristic
organisations to enforce the network on European ground."
Abit Hoxha, Kosovo senior security researcher of the Centre for Security Studies, agreed.
"I believe the EU concern is right as the people involved in any
conflict are a challenge for the system in situations after the end of
the conflict," Hoxha told
SETimes.
Hoxha said social, economic and education assistance and the
establishment of better partnerships with religious communities could
help to control the export of violence from Syria to the EU.
Experts said that all countries in the region should sanction such
inclusion in foreign military clashes, pursuant to the criminal laws
where participation in foreign militaries and military actions is
prohibited.
"Preventively, the intelligence services should establish close
co-operation and exchange of intelligence information in order to
prevent the future candidates from leaving to Syria, and for the ones
who have left, they should undertake operational control measures for
the same, because the same are already a problem in their own yard,"
Pivovarov said.
Bytyci said it would be helpful to run a public awareness campaign to
inform people about the Syria conflict and the role of the foreign
fighters.
Correspondents Drazen Remikovic in Sarajevo, Bojana Milovanovic in
Belgrade and Marina Stojanovska in Skopje contributed to this report.
What are the most effective measures the region should take to
prevent the flow of local citizens to Syria and to control the activity
of fighters who return to their home countries? Share your thoughts in
comments section.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com
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