to think they should charge the Syria girls

[adsy]

If they are indeed with terrorists in Syria then when a small chink of sense comes back to them and they want to come home, I hope they will be charged.

I wonder if those asking for proof are the type of people who don't read/look at the news? After all, talk of tweets/pro isis websites have been widely reported by the bbc, this isn't just tabloid speculation.

So ghosty back to the question do you think they should be charged with the crime they have already committed which is to knowingly be in contact with a member of a proscribed terrorist group? Or should we just let them off that if they make it back?

which law says that direct contact with ISIS is a crime? As a proscribed organisation it is a crime to belong to it or to promote it - but not, AFAIK, to contact a member of it. (details on the law re proscribed organisations is here www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/400902/Proscription-20150123.pdf )

If that were the case then there would be lots of criminals being created on a daily basis. This is an important distinction in law. We don't criminalise people based on who they talk to. Even the category of 'joint enterprise' can only be used when there is evidence that the person knowingly assisted or encouraged the crime. We do not know what the girls have said or what their intentions are. I'm sorry - but simply don't accept internet speculation as evidence. If they have committed a crime then they will face the consequences of that, but I have not seen any evidence of a crime yet, just speculation.

the link clearly says it is illegal to arrange or assist to arrange a meeting if it 's to support the organization.
so to answer your question, the law they have broken is in your link!

interesting to see what a high proportion of the proscribed organisations on the list are Islamic, isn't it?

Well the police and the PM seem pretty convinced of where they are headed to, so I'm afraid that at some point you have to take your fingers out of your ears and accept that they obviously hae good reason to think so.

adsy "interesting to see what a high proportion of the proscribed organisations on the list are Islamic, isn't it?"

Strange that with most of the terrorist attacks in the last 15 years being Islamic and all?

Well, the BBC has just said that they have been told the young women have crossed into Syria.
To the people who say that all the talk about where they are going is based on conjecture and internet rumours do you think the BBC operates on rumour and gossip, or many facts that it gets from variuous reliable sources.#
Think we can safely say they are in Syria now, not on a beach holiday or did they just take a wrong turn off the beach?

Well, now that they're in Syria the police can presumably come back. They're just another statistic now, and will be used as an example the next time someone leaves the country in persuit of jihadi glory.

To the people who say that all the talk about where they are going is based on conjecture and internet rumours do you think the BBC operates on rumour and gossip, or many facts that it gets from variuous reliable sources

Like the government? Have you forgotten Blair and the Weapons of Mass Destruction?

So there's still people who don't believe these sweet young girls would do such a thing??!!
Exactly what evidence do you need ( apart form the police, the PM, their families and the BBC all saying they're headed to Syria)

OK , sigh,
why would the police etc. make this up? What possible reason would they have?

I'm not saying they are making it up. What I am saying is that there is no actual "proof" no actual "evidence" of wrongdoing.

All I am doing is waiting until there is before I condem these children. They could be absolutely, horrifically, completely guilty of an offence - but I don't KNOW that.

You said the same in your opening post.

I'm not sure why you are being so sarcastic and passive aggressive. Is it really needed?

Syria girls: Trio 'smuggled into Syria four or five days ago'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31612666

The sense of denial on this thread is astounding. Just what reason would there be to make this up?

What reason do people think there would be to go to Syria?

It is one thing to hope that they didn't go there, it is quite another to deny all news reports and pretend that it isn't happening.

There is no innocent reason to travel to Syria at this point, unless you were part of an aid organisation or the UN which these girls are not.

eve I think the police and the parents have enough proof that they are in Syria otherwise there is no way they would have released to the media that they crossed the border 3 days ago.
What annoys me is that so many people will just ignore all common sense and overwhelming circumstantial eveidence in the need for not thinking a 16 year old can be bad.
it's a dangerous way of thinking. More and more of these terrorists are recruited as young people. if we continue to believe all teenagers are basically good, we are not going to address the problem. Both in terms of national security and in terms of acknowledging that teenagers in this country are going to destroy their own and other people's lives.

OK. let's have a quick head count.
Who still believes the girls did not set out for Syria?

You know when you hear awful stories of how murderers have been caught and the mothers still refuse to believe they did it, even in the face of overwhelming evidence? Well, you pity them , because you can sort of understand not being able to accept that your own child could do that.
what I don't get is why so many people on here have the same attitude to strangers that thay have never met. How can you be so blinkered ?

Show me where a poster has said they don't believe that the children were going to Syria please.

So it's somehow BETTER that there are now 3 vulnerable 15 year olds in a war zone about to become sex slaves?? Why do you WANT to be right? It's appalling, whichever way you look at it. I still believe that the girls have done this out of sheer naivety. They will not have a nice time. It will not be like a holiday camp. It is to all intents and purposes the end of their lives.

And if we were talking about 15 year old boys smuggling themselves into Syria in order to be the ones holding the weapons, I wouldn't think them any less stupid and vulnerable and misguided. I am firmly of the opinion and have been all along that we still not know how young westerners are being radicalised and that this sort of thing will keep happening as long as we don't understand that. It's just too facile to blame the school, blame the parents, blame the mosque, etc... when there are dark forces at play that we simply do not understand.

YY duchesse, the absolute glee is rather disturbing and won't be forgotten in a hurry.

There have been reports in the British media since Sunday, sourced to Turkish officials (and mentioned way earlier on the thread), that they had crossed. With the British police endorsement, which the Beeb is now reporting, hope that those reports could have been in error is sadly now extinguished.

If it follows the pattern of other young women (eg the two from Austria) they are very likely to be married by now. They may appear on social media, describing their new lives.

duchesse if you want to look at the study and research of radicalisation, with the aim of countering it, you might be interested in www.quilliamfoundation.org

It's not glee eve it's frustration that so many people are unwilling to see what is going on under their noses and will make up any excuse for would be terrorists rather than admit that there are some people in this country who don't share their multicultural happy family dream and actually want to hurt people of all nationalities and religions including their own/