What will the UK do about Shamima Begum, the schoolgirl who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State? The Times’ stunning scoop this morning about the 19-year old’s plea to be allowed home from the Syrian refugee camp prompted Security Minister Ben Wallace to tell the Today programme that ‘actions have consequences’ and that she could face prosecution.
Some argue that as a teenager who left when she was just 15, she has been indoctrinated and needs rehabilitation, not punishment. Wallace may well agree with that, but it’s not something he’s likely to say in a broadcast interview, given it is still important for the government to send the message that you cannot support a proscribed organisation or potentially commit crimes in its name without fearing that the law will catch up with you. In reality, though, there are many people who have already returned to the UK from Syria and Iraq who have not faced prosecution, largely because there isn’t enough evidence to convict them for anything.
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