Are Britons in Syria morally justified? Take our survey
David Cameron is expected to talk about the threat of Britons returning from Syria with extremist views in a parliamentary hearing later on Thursday – but is travelling to Syria justified?
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On the one hand it can be argued that – as with volunteers like George Orwell in the Spanish civil war – volunteering to fight against an oppressive regime can be morally justified.
On the other, in a war where all sides have been accused of crimes against humanity and human rights violations, fighting for any side could mean supporting and, potentially, perpetrating such acts.
Earlier this week Sir Peter Fahy, chief constable of Greater Manchester police, said Britons returning from Syria face being arrested because of a “huge concern” that they will pose a threat to the UK.
A US Senate intelligence briefing on Wednesday heard that an estimated 7,000 militants fighting for Syria’s rebels are foreigners, and have travelled from 50 countries mostly located in the Middle East and Europe.
Humanitarian efforts
But Britons have also been travelling to Syria to deliver aid, such as Noaman Ali and Faisel Qarni from the Islam Hounslow group who travelled in a convoy to Syria, or provide humanitarian assistance, such as Dr Abbas Khan, a British doctor who travelled to Syria to help provide emergency medical relief, and who died in a Syrian jail last month.
Tell Channel 4 News what you think the moral justifications for travelling to Syria are, in the survey above.
