Post by Focus on May 18, 2013 7:25:38 GMT
* Germany says up to 700 Europeans joined opposition fighters in Syria
* Fears fighters could pose a threat upon returning to the EU
* Calls for suspected Islamists to be barred from re-entering EU
Germany has called for Europeans fighting the Assad regime in Syria to be temporarily barred from re-entering the EU - amid fears they could return as 'homegrown terrorists'.
The German government has claimed as many as 700 Europeans have joined opposition forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad's soldiers, and warned militant Islamists could pose a threat upon returning to the EU from the battlefields of Syria.
Now the country, which has said it is aware of up to 40 people who have left Germany for Syria since the summer of 2012, wants to see suspected Islamists banned from re-entering the EU from Syria for two years.
Controversial : Germany's Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich is expected to call for a two-year re-entry ban for suspected Islamists at a meeting of EU governments next month
Germany's interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, is expected to address the controversial suggestion at a meeting of EU governments next month, according to a report in the press.
Officials at the ministry said that of 6,000 foreign militants believed to be fighting the Assad regime, between 400 and 700 are European.
Fighters could not be prevented from leaving Germany in the first place because it was impossible to prove they were going to Syria, the ministry said, adding that while passports could be confiscated, it was possible to travel to the Syrian border with just an ID card.
It is not clear how the proposed ban would be enforced, as the individuals involved would likely have EU passports as well as jobs and families in the countries concerned.
Conflict : European fighters are believed to have joined rebels (Free Syrian Army fighters are pictured in Damascus earlier this month) in clashes with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the war-torn country
Up to 60 militants have also left Germany for Egypt, the interior ministry said.
'Most have joined the Islamists. The dangers are growing for us,' a senior official was quoted as saying.
A survey by King's College London found last month that up to 600 individuals from countries including the UK, Spain, Sweden and Germany had taken part in the Syrian conflict since the war erupted in 2011. The largest contingent was from the UK.
Very sensible I must say! - Fx
