U.N. Approval for New Rules to Track Foreign Fighters

The U.N. Security Council have called for new measures to help curb the movement of potential terrorists. Drafted by the U.S. the measures received unanimous approval from the Security Council, who intend to clamp down on funding and recruitment opportunities amongst the militant groups.

U.S. President, Mr Barack Obama said that it is believed that around 15,000 fighters have travelled to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State or Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliated group, from more than 80 nations. Speaking about the crisis at an unusual Security Council session, Mr Obama said, “The tactic of terrorism is not new. What brings us together today, what is new, is the unprecedented flow of fighters in recent years to and from conflict zones, including Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, Yemen, Libya, and most recently, Syria and Iraq.”

Strengthened steps will be taken to prevent suspected foreign terrorist fighters from entering their territories or passing through borders. Part of the plan is the widespread provision of Advance Passenger Information (API), currently mandatory in the U.S. and spreading throughout the world.

Mandatory provision of API, which includes passenger details, destination countries and methods of payment in some cases, can help governments and border agencies to track the movements of travellers, thus indicating potential high-risk passengers for further investigation. The resolution also includes a strengthening of the legal framework for international action by the suggestion of a passage of legislation that can give countries greater flexibility for the prosecution of suspected foreign fighters.

The U.N. have also encouraged member states to be more co-operative with information-sharing.

“Foreign terrorist fighters increase the intensity, duration and intractability of conflicts, and also may pose a serious threat to their states of origin, the states they transit and the states to which they travel,” the resolution said. More efficient methods of sharing information is what is called for to discourage recruitment, organisation and financing of terrorist movements and the aim of the resolution is to make this as difficult as possible.