David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the UK, announced that the UK will be taking new measures to counter suspects of being involved with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. British intelligence believes about 500 British people have traveled overseas to fight alongside ISIS.
Authorities need stronger powers “to manage the risk by expected extremists already in the United Kingdom,” Cameron said.
The measures that Cameron announced include increasing police officials’ powers to confiscate passports of suspected terrorists at UK borders; requiring terrorists to go through deradicalization programs; and requiring airlines to provide more information about passengers traveling to and from conflict zones, according to a BBC report.
According to the Telegraph, there are several deradicalization programs that are currently ongoing. These include the Healthy Identities Intervention, which is a program in which psychotherapists search for the trigger that caused individuals to become radicalized, and the Al Furqan program, which uses religious teachings to challenge extremist ideals and views that terrorists hold.
Another prevention program that the government is carrying out, called the Channel program, is targeting those who may be vulnerable to becoming radicalized before they actually become a part of the militants.
“Adhering to British values is not an option or a choice. It is a duty for all those who live in these islands so we will stand up for our values,” said Cameron. “We will, in the end, defeat this extremism and we will secure our way of life for generations to come.”
“The events of this summer have underlined how turning our back on the complexities and instability of our world is not an option,” he added.
