The UK should take back British members of Islamic State who are languishing in Syrian prison camps, Donald Trump‘s incoming terror chief has said.
Sebastian Gorka, a British-American, called on Sir Keir Starmer to bring the citizens home as part of his ‘commitment’ to the international fight against the jihadist group.
His comments come after ISIS bride Shamima Begum last year lost her final appeal against the government’s decision to rescind her British citizenship.
It is thought she would be one of the members of the terror group who would be repatriated under his plans.
There are currently around 20 British women, 40 children and 10 men detained in prison camps in northeastern Syria, according to charities working in the region.
Gorka, who has been appointed a deputy assistant to the president-elect, told The Times countries needed to act in a way that reflects their desire to be a US ally.
And when asked whether Britain should be forced to take the ISIS prisoners back, he said: ‘Any nation which wishes to be seen to be a serious ally and friend of the most powerful nation in the world should act in a fashion that reflects that serious commitment.
‘That is doubly so for the UK which has a very special place in President Trump’s heart and we would all wish to see the “special relationship” fully re-established.’
He was speaking just days after 14 people were killed in one of the worst ISIS-inspired terror attacks on American soil.
Video grab taken of Shamima Begum speaking to Good Morning Britain from the al-Roj prison camp in Syria in 2021
Sebastian Gorka (pictured), a British-American, called on Sir Keir Starmer to bring the citizens home as part of his ‘commitment’ to the international fight against the jihadist group
There could be around 20 other jihadi brides in Syrian refugee camps looking to return to the UK (file photo)
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an army veteran, drove a pick-up truck into people celebrating the New Year in New Orleans.
Washington has been leading a coalition of countries, which includes the UK, in the battle against ISIS in the Middle East.
Tens of thousands of captured members of the terror group are currently being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group allied with the West, in huge camps.
Since ISIS was defeated in 2019, the US has been piling on the pressure for its partners to repatriate their citizens many of whom have been detained for years.
The American Justice Department has argued it is their ‘moral responsibility’ to solve to bring the prisoners home and try them there.
Britain has so far taken a hard line on the matter and has refused most repatriation requests- with the most notorious being the case Begum.
The now-25-year-old travelled to Syria as a 15-year-old but was later was found in al-Roj refugee camp in 2019.
She had been fighting to regain her citizenship since she it was revoked on national security grounds until her final appeal was dismissed last year.
However, charities have warned there could be around 20 other jihadi brides in Syrian refugee camps looking to return to the UK.
Women use an umbrella as they walk in the rain at Camp Roj in 2021, where relatives of people suspected of belonging to the Islamic State are being held
Camp Roj is one of several camps that has been holding families of individuals with alleged links to ISIL for the past five years, according to the UN (file photo)
Ministers have been under growing pressure to accept the returning brides (file picture)
Some of the testimonies of these women detained with Begum at the al-Roj camp were subsequently revealed in WhatsApp messages seen by The Guardian.
In one message, sent in September 2023, a British mother in her 20s says she feels that UK authorities have ignored her.
‘I’m going to die here if they don’t get me out soon,’ the message sent to UK family members said. ‘I really, really want to go back and be with you guys. I really need hospital care.’
Others, sent by a small number of British mothers to the UK throughout 2023, depict abysmal conditions within the camp, which holds about 3,000 people, 65 per cent of whom are children.
After Islamic State was uprooted in Syria by Kurdish forces with American support in 2019, male fighters – including British men – were sent to prisons in the north of the country.
But women and children were detained in two refugee camps called Roj and Al-Hol, also in northern Syria.
Camp Roj is one of several camps that has been holding families of individuals with alleged links to ISIL for the past five years, according to the UN.
Most European countries, including Spain and France, have also repatriated their citizens so that they can be met with justice.
They have expressed worries about the squalid conditions and that not returning them hinders worldwide attempts to eradicate terrorism.
The British government has taken citizenship away from most of the women.