Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent progress has been made in preventing members of the Islamic State/Daesh from travelling across the border between Syria and Turkey.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK and Turkey work in close partnership to stop foreign terrorist fighters and extremist travellers from crossing the border between Syria and Turkey, including through practical cooperation between our police and security forces.

The Turkish authorities are taking significant measures to prevent illegal crossings from Turkey to the conflict zone, including the deployment of additional personnel. Physical security at border crossings between Syria and Turkey is improving, although sections of the border remain porous.

Between January and December 2015, 913 foreign nationals who are members of Daesh were arrested in Turkey, 435 of whom were caught passing to Syria.