The home secretary Sajid Javid is proposing a new Espionage Bill which amongst other things could make travelling to Syria and certain West African Countries illegal in a bid to curb terrorist threats to the UK. Under the proposals people travelling to, or remaining in, certain areas of Syria without good reason could face up to 10 years in prison.
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There are no definitions as of yet but it is possible that all of Syria could be covered and the north-western Syrian province of Idlib, which is the last remaining stronghold controlled by forces opposed to President Bashar al-Assad would almost certainly be a banned travel area.
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The Bill would also include a Foreign Agents Register which would aim to regulate legitimate political and government lobbying by people acting on behalf of overseas states and interests and ensure it’s carried out in a more transparent way. Anyone involved in this area who was not registered would then fall under suspicion.
Legislation of this type is not new with the US having the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) which was passed back in 1938 and more recently by Australia who introduced the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme in December 2018.
Like all new legislation and in particular sensitive subjects like this there will be questions over who is covered and how it is implemented, however, it is a welcome step forward in the efforts to control extremist action.
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