DHAKA: The United Nations Security Council demanded Wednesday that members nations make it harder for would-be terrorists to travel abroad to join extremist groups, or use their home-country passports to return and carry out attacks.
The U.S.-drafted measure unanimously approved by the 15-member Security Council was a response to the rapid rise of the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria, but applies to those who might travel to join any foreign terror group. It also tells U.N. member states to clamp down on recruitment and funding for terrorist groups.
President Obama told the council in an unusual session that some 15,000 fighters from more than 80 nations have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State or the al-Qaeda affiliate known as Jabhat al-Nusra. The United States estimates that about 100 of its citizens have traveled to join the Islamic State; the numbers are far higher in Western Europe.
“The tactic of terrorism is not new,” Obama said. “What brings us together today, what is new, is the unprecedented flow of fighters in recent years to and from conflict zones, including Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, Yemen, Libya, and most recently, Syria and Iraq.”
The resolution strengthens the legal framework for international action in response to the threat posed by foreign fighters this threat. It tells nations to take steps to prevent suspected foreign terrorist fighters from entering or passing through their territories, including the passage of legislation, if needed, to prosecute suspected foreign fighters.
The resolution requires countries to “prevent and suppress recruiting, organizing, transporting, and equipping,” of foreign terrorists fighters, and the financing of their travel and activities. It also asks members to do more to cooperate with one another and share criminal or other information where appropriate.
“Foreign terrorist fighters increase the intensity, duration and intractability of conflicts, and also may pose a serious threat to their states of origin, the states they transit and the states to which they travel,” the resolution said.
The resolution asks nations to “require their airlines to provide advance passenger information to detect the travel of UN-listed terrorists.” The measure was approved under the Security Council’s Chapter 7 authority to carry out international actions and back them up with coercive sanctions or military force, reports the Washington post.
That makes the directive legally binding, but it will be difficult to enforce. Wednesday’s approval came without specific new steps to ensure compliance.
Follow-up is the obligation of each member state, Obama told the council.
BDST: 0928 HRS, SEP 25, 2014
