Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British citizens who travelled to the Middle East to join the armed forces of the Islamic State are known to have returned to the UK; and how many of those are currently held in custody in the UK.

Approximately 400 UK-linked individuals of security concern have returned from the conflict in Syria. While it would not be appropriate to provide a breakdown of the investigation status of returners, a significant proportion of the individuals who have already returned have been assessed as posing little or no national security concern.

The Home Office Statistical Bulletin publishes data about convictions quarterly but does not distinguish those which relate to Syria and Daesh. People who are investigated and charged with offences relating to the conflict in Syria and Iraq are prosecuted in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Although official figures do not show how many were Syria or Daesh related, of the 97 persons charged with a terrorism-related offence in the year ending September 2017, 30 had been prosecuted (as at the time of data provision to the Home Office, 6 November 2017), 30 of which were found guilty. A further 65 were awaiting prosecution.