Conservatives would ban travel to ISIS-held territories
Posted August 9, 2015 10:27 am.
Last Updated August 9, 2015 1:39 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – The federal Conservatives are proposing to make it illegal to travel to regions of the world where terrorists like the Islamic State group hold control.
Conservative leader Stephen Harper says his government would ban travel to regions of the world which groups like ISIS use as a base to recruit and train followers.
“By this designation of declared areas, we are talking about the most dangerous places on earth where governance is non-existent and violence is widespread and brutal.”
Harper says anyone who travels to the so-called declared areas would experience the full force of the law, but that exceptions would be made for people who have legitimate reasons to go.
“Look, there are few legitimate reasons, there will be exceptions in the law for those legitimate reasons. I don’t think people who have legitimate reasons will have difficulty showing those, but we know what other people are doing there and this is something we’ve got to nip in the bud before trained terrorists return to this country.”
The proposed law would force those returning to Canada to prove they were in the region for humanitarian reasons, or as a journalist covering the conflict.
The ban on travelling to countries like Syria or Iraq has some flaws according to one expert.
A travel ban to middle eastern countries embroiled in war does not necessarily mean an end to Canadians going overseas to join terrorist groups according to one expert.
This is a fairly new idea says SFU Professor Andre Gerolymatos.
Who says it would have happened in WWII and the Korean War but there were far fewer people flying then.
He says the move is more symbolic because if you really wanted to go to these war torn areas, you still could. It would just take you longer.
“It’s just a matter of convenience versus a direct flight, and you notice each time it’s always going to Turkey, that’s the key country. That’s the country that should ban flights people having access to.”
The reason is “because most of these potential Jihadists get to Turkey and half the time the Turks let them get through when they really know they’re going to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS and other terrorist organizations.”
He does say the idea could be relatively successful because instead of monitoring who goes to those countries an outright ban makes it easier for the Canadian government.
