Lord Rana – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rana on 2015-12-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of extremists from Commonwealth countries fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK does not hold numbers of extremists from Commonwealth countries fighting in Syria and Iraq. The latest UN report on foreign fighters (April 2015) estimates there are over 1,350 foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq from Commonwealth nations. Over 800 Britons of national security concern have travelled to the region since the start of the conflict, around half of whom have returned.