Feels Like Home: 19 suspected terrorists living in hotels after they illegally entered UK in migrant boats last year

Ayndrila Banerjee April 11, 2023, 15:38:37 IST

The nationalities of the 19 men have been established with five of the known terror suspects hailing from Iraq, another five from Iran, four from Afghan, four from Somalia and one from Libya

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Feels Like Home: 19 suspected terrorists living in hotels after they illegally entered UK in migrant boats last year

London: Since last year, several suspected terrorists have entered the UK via small migrant boats, security personnel has revealed. As many as 19 people linked with groups like the Islamic State are currently lodged in UK taxpayer hotels by claiming asylum status in the country. According to Daily Mail, the foreign nationals are from France who entered the UK illegally by crossing the Channel last year. UK’s human rights law does not allow deportation and hence the suspected terrorists cannot be repatriated. Seven of the 19 men are already under scanner in some countries. It is also believed that some of these men are being investigated for their possible links with terrorist organisations by Security Service MI5, the government listening post GCHQ, and counter-terrorism police. The nationalities of the 19 men have been established with five of the known terror suspects hailing from Iraq, another five from Iran, four from Afghan, four from Somalia and one from Libya. Seven of these men are under active investigation and belong to the Islamic State or its offshoots. Authorities were able to establish the identities of the men through routine fingerprint scanning carried out on all Channel arrivals. Security personnel told Daily Mail, “It’s a real problem and not something we’re able to easily stop.” “Once they’re here we can monitor them and limit any potential threat they pose but it adds to the overall surveillance burden,” the source added. A common doorway for terrorists In the past, terrorist organisations have sent terrorists to infiltrate European land. For instance, in 2015, ISIS used the migration crisis to send terrorists to Europe on small boats. “A number of cases have been reported, including that of Abdel Majid Touil, who was responsible for the Bardo Museum attack in Tunisia of 18 March 2015, which killed 21 tourists. He was spotted on a migrant boat in Sicily on February 2015 and later arrested in Milan,” said the European Parliament. It added, “Another such case is that of Mehdi Ben Nasr, who was arrested in Italy in 2008 for being the head of a terrorist cell with links to al-Qaeda. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, then extradited to his country of origin, Tunisia. In October 2015 he returned to Europe on a migrant boat, claiming to be an asylum-seeker. In the latest Paris attack of 13 November, a Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the attackers.” Read all the  Latest News Trending News Cricket News Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  FacebookTwitter  and  Instagram .

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