Action on foreign fighters needed

"The EU needs a clear, coordinated and effective range of measures to track the thousands of foreign fighters or those radicalised persons who travel to terrorist training camps abroad and return intent on harming innocent people. This could be achieved as part of an EU-wide Directive on Terrorism", Deirdre Clune MEP said in the European Parliament in Strasbourg today.

MEPs this week debated counter-terrorism measures following last month's terrorist attacks in Brussels which killed 32 people and injured over 270. The Parliament will cast its final vote on the implementation of an EU-wide Passenger Name Record system (PNR) on Thursday.

"Obliging airlines to provide the authorities with basic passenger data for flights in and out of Europe with PNR will empower the authorities to combat terrorism and serious crime by better tracking the movements of suspects. It is one essential element of a multi-faceted approach and a central part of the Anti-Terror Pact which the EPP Group, to which Fine Gael is aligned, has consistently pushed for at EU level," said Clune, a member of the Parliament's Transport Committee.

"Foreign fighters and radicalisation must be addressed seriously and in a coordinated manner. Europol estimates that between 3,000 - 5,000 EU nationals have travelled to fight in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. Yet as it stands, there is neither common definition, nor common judicial approach to foreign fighters.

"My EPP Group colleagues and I are calling for a common definition of foreign fighters and for better coordination on the criminalisation of offences linked to terrorist travel, passive training, financing and facilitation of such travel. We also need a more comprehensive, effective sharing of information via EU databases and countries will have to invest in and properly equip their police and intelligence services against this extremely worrying threat to Europe from such jihadists and suicide bombers."

MEP Clune said terrorist recruiters were radicalising young men in particular via the internet, in our communities or in prisons and preventing radicalisation is crucial: "We need to look at the radicalisation of young men in particular online or in our European communities, and examine the issue at European prison level where extremists are preying on jailed offenders."

MEP Clune said Member States must agree on a common approach towards “returnees” to make sure they are put under judicial control once back on EU soil, before prosecution. The Ireland South MEP has backed called for an ambitious EU Directive on Terrorism, which could be adopted before the summer break.