Revealed: How freed ISIS prisoners could make it back to Britain undetected

Kurdish forces under attack from Turkey and the new Syrian government could be forced to abandon guarding the detention camps holding thousands of ISIS terrorists prisoners –

The US is also piling political pressure on Downing Street to take back potentially dozens of British former jihadis and their children from northeastern Syria where they have been .

Many of the women and men have, like Begum, have had their citizenship removed for joining ISIS in the hope it would ensure they never return to the UK.

But now many could walk free themselves if the Kurdish Syrian Defence Force (SDF) comes under attack meaning they will have to leave the prisons unguarded to go and protect their homes and families.

If the prisoners walk free there is seemingly no way Britain could track them or stop potentially extremely dangerous individuals making it back to the UK undetected via illegal smuggling routes.

Home Office figures show 12% of the 36,816 illegal migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats this year were from Syria, all of which had no checks before they arrived on these shores. Since 2018, more than 8,000 Syrian nationals have arrived in Britain via the Channel route, 94% of which were men.

According to Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the vast majority of Syrian migrants travel overland via the so-called Western Balkan route through countries including Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Croatia.

In 2023 nearly 100,000 illegal migrants crossed into the EU via the bloc’s borders Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Fontex reports the majority were mostly Syrians and Afghans.

Once inside the EU, movement becomes relatively easy as the migrants enter the world’s largest free-movement zone, the Schengen Area, allowing them to cross borders without having to show paperwork.

According to Migrant Watch UK, “substantial inflows, particularly of asylum seekers, can increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks and communal violence”.

In a report in May, the group said research found “nearly 80% of all charges related to terrorism in the UK since 2001 were connected to a group or ideology based outside of the country, i.e., ‘international terrorism’”.

It added: “Large numbers of immigrants, particularly asylum seekers from troubled and unstable poorer countries, has the potential to contribute to the spread of intercommunal tensions within the host country.”

Those heading to Britain will travel towards the north west French coast and Calais where smugglers wait to pack them into dangerous small boats. Home Office figures show an average of 53 migrants were crammed into each tiny vessel in 2024, up from 49 in 2023.

The trade in human life is a lucrative business for people smugglers who charge from as little as £1,500 to £2,500 per person payable when migrants arrive in Dover.

Smuggling gangs often use social media to spread their ‘special offers’ on illegal crossing packages, some of which include a fixer in the UK who will find rented accommodation and black market cash-in-hand jobs.

Criminals trade from social media, using sites, such as Telegram and , to connect with hopeful migrants.

In December the Telegraph reported one trafficker referred to the crossing offer as a ‘game’ during a post online to prospective customers.

He wrote: “To go to England, I have 15-person ‘games’ for Christmas.

“From the 25th until the 29th, there will be special offers as the weather is also good – God willing, you will be in England before the new year.”