UK action to combat Daesh

Daesh (also known as IS, ISIL and ISIS) is a global terrorist group that poses a threat to the world through its violent ideology and network of terrorist fighters. The UK is at the forefront of the Global Coalition against Daesh.

The Threat

Daesh is a global terrorist group which propagates violent, extremist ideologies. It previously took advantage of regional instability and political upheaval to control large areas of Syria and Iraq. Although Daesh was beaten back by the Global Coalition and no longer occupies any territory, it still poses a threat to the world.

The UK is at the forefront of the Global Coalition against Daesh. Degrading and destroying this terrorist group and their poisonous ideology is vital for our own national security.

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Defeating Daesh in Iraq and Syria

The UK is a member of the Global Coalition, a unified body of 83 international partners dedicated to degrading and defeating Daesh. The Coalition was formed in September 2014 and is unique in its membership, scope and commitment.

All members are committed to countering Daesh’s global ambitions and dismantling its networks through:

The UK plays a leading role in all of these.

Military

Daesh once controlled territory roughly the size of the UK but, thanks to a sustained military campaign by the Global Coalition and its partners on the ground, it no longer occupies land. 7.7 million people have been liberated from its rule. The UK continues to play a vital role in that campaign, currently committing over 1,000 military personnel to the region to support counter-Daesh operations. The Royal Air Force has conducted strikes in Iraq and Syria using more than 4,300 precision weapons, and provides highly advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to Coalition partners. On the ground, British soldiers have trained Iraqi Security Forces. To date, the UK and its Coalition partners have trained some 225,000 members of the Iraqi Security Forces in engineering, medical, counter-IED, urban operations and basic infantry skills. The UK has trained over 120,000 Iraqi and Kurdish personnel.

As Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said, “Daesh has imposed terrible suffering on innocent civilians. The UK will continue to work with our international partners to bring this to an end.” Daesh retains the capacity to conduct insurgent-type attacks in Syria and Iraq, and continues to threaten the UK and our allies with its network of terrorist affiliates. The UK remains firmly committed to the Global Coalition and its objective of securing Daesh’s lasting defeat.

Finance

The UK recognises that the disruption of Daesh finances is essential to their defeat. The UK has public and private forms of co-operation with the banking industry to ensure Daesh is denied access to the official financial system. We work closely with finance specialists in the region to increase our understanding of the informal Hawala finance network, commonly used by Daesh. We also share our knowledge with local Financial Investigation Units to help disrupt Daesh’s economic infrastructure in Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey.

Daesh no longer has access to the revenues it once controlled through the oil fields it had captured. As a member of the Global Coalition, the UK participated in precision airstrikes against Daesh-controlled infrastructure, to disrupt Daesh’s primary source of income. We also work closely with Coalition partners to prevent Daesh profiting from the illegal trafficking of antiquities, which they plundered from Syria and Iraq, and which still helps finance its remaining activities.

Foreign Terrorist Fighters

The UK advises against all travel to Syria and Iraq. Anyone who does travel, for whatever reason, is putting themselves in considerable danger. People seeking to travel to engage in terrorist activity in Syria or Iraq should be in no doubt that the UK will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security, including prosecuting those who break the law.

The Home Office has a wide range of powers to disrupt travel and manage the risk posed by returnees. The Home Secretary can exclude non-British nationals from the UK and in some circumstances, may strips dangerous individuals of their British citizenship where that individual wouldn’t be made stateless. In addition, through the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, there are new powers to prevent British citizens from entering designated terrorist hotspots without legitimate reason.

The UK is working closely with its partners in the Global Coalition to manage the risk of foreign terrorist fighters returning to their home countries. We share information to identify and track suspected terrorists and enhancing border security measures. More than 70 countries have prosecuted or arrested foreign terrorist fighters or their facilitators, and global law enforcement authorities have been able to identify and disrupt foreign terrorist fighter transit networks.

Stabilisation

Stabilisation is the process of providing a foundation for long-term stability by supporting local partners to reduce violence, ensure basic security and provide local governance. The process of stabilising areas liberated from Daesh is complex, often due to the explosive hazards left behind by the group. These must be cleared before work can begin to rehabilitate critical infrastructure and restore normal daily life.

In January 2019 the UK announced a £5 million additional contribution to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) to aid explosive clearance efforts in Iraq. Since 2016, the UK has contributed to 663 infrastructure sites being cleared from explosive hazards, and 4.4 million square metres of land have been made safe.

In Iraq, the UK has pledged more than £110 million from its Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) for stabilisation since 2015. This has helped address some of the underlying drivers of conflict by supporting community reconciliation projects, and contributed to UN-led efforts to restart the delivery of vital services – repairing schools, hospitals and infrastructure.

The UK is also supporting Iraq through our funding and leadership alongside the World Bank’s Iraq Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Fund. We are working to minimise the destabilising effects of the current economic crisis, which could provide an opportunity for Daesh to re-emerge.

We are also committed to boosting investment in Iraq, to continue to support Iraq’s economic development and create opportunities for those liberated from Daesh. In April 2019, UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, increased its credit limit in Iraq from £1 billion to £2 billion.

In Syria the UK supports the UN-facilitated political process to reach a lasting settlement to the conflict which protects the rights of all Syrians. While we provide substantial humanitarian support to Syrian victims of Daesh, we will not consider providing any stabilisation assistance in Syria without a credible, substantive and genuine political process firmly underway.

Strategic Communications

The UK leads international efforts to counter Daesh’s propaganda and damage its brand. In September 2015, the UK launched the Counter-Daesh Communications Cell.

Through the UK’s leadership, the Cell has carried out vital work in countering and undermining terrorist propaganda, damaging the perception of Daesh and reducing its ability to recruit. The Cell coordinates across the UK’s Global Coalition partners to ensure we speak as one voice against Daesh, and provides weekly information packs to stakeholders in the fight against Daesh. We also launched a Global Coalition website and English and Arabic social media channels which provide up-to-date information on Coalition progress. All of this has helped governments undermine Daesh’s narrative and reduce its ability to spread its propaganda.

For further information on the Global Coalition’s efforts, visit http://theglobalcoalition.org and follow the Coalition on Twitter: @Coalition and @CoalitionAR.

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Mitigating the impact on the region

The UK’s efforts against Daesh in Iraq and Syria are part of our wider strategy to promote peace and prosperity in the Middle East and North Africa. Our efforts to defeat Daesh are essential to the stability and security of the whole region.

The UK is working to encourage political stability based on open, inclusive and democratic systems. For more information on our efforts in the region, visit the stability in the Middle East & North Africa webpage.

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Humanitarian support

Iraq

Many Iraqis have been able to return to their homes and livelihoods due to the military progress made by the Coalition. However substantial humanitarian needs remain, 4.1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance including 1.4 million people still internally displaced within Iraq. In response to this, the UK has committed over £272 million in humanitarian support and over £110 million in stabilisation support to Iraq since 2014. To date, UK funding has helped provide food assistance to over 460,000 people, shelter kits to 973,610 people, life-saving healthcare services to over 4.1 million people, and safe drinking water, toilet and shower facilities to more than 3.6 million people.

Syria

The conflict in Syria has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises of all time. Over 11 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. The UN estimates that over 500,000 people have died in the conflict between the Assad regime, extremist groups, including Daesh, and moderate opposition groups.

The UK is fully committed to supporting the Syrian people, wherever they are. To date, we have spent more than £3 billion to support those affected by the conflict, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. We are the third largest bilateral humanitarian donor to the Syrian crisis. UK funding has provided over 28 million food rations, 19 million medical consultations and over 13 million vaccines.

For more information on our humanitarian effort in Syria, please view the DFID Syria Crisis Response page.

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Addressing the political causes in Syria

The Syrian Civil War is a direct result of President Bashar Al-Assad’s brutal and inhumane treatment of the Syrian people. The UK continues to make every effort to achieve our goals in Syria. These include defeating the scourge of Daesh, and achieving a political settlement that ends the suffering and provides stability for all Syrians and the wider region. There needs to be a transition to a new, inclusive, non-sectarian government that can protect the rights of all Syrians, unite the country and end the conflict. But we are pragmatic about how this might take place. Syria’s future must be for Syrians to decide.

Since the start of the conflict, the UK has provided political support to the moderate opposition to Assad’s regime. The UK has provided over £200 million through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. This funding supports Syrians to help save lives, bolster civil society, counter extremism, promote human rights and accountability, and lay the foundations for a more peaceful future.

The UK is working closely with the UN to demand an end to the violence and atrocities committed by the Assad regime, including the bombardment and besiegement of civilian cities and the restriction of life-saving aid to these areas. The UK also supports independent investigations by the UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations and abuses in Syria. We are working in partnership with other donor countries to fund the collection of documentary evidence of human rights abuses for use in possible legal processes in the future.

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