The Canadian government has failed to submit the names of its citizens who are “terrorist travellers” to the UN committee that keeps a sanctions list of known or suspected international jihadists.
UN Resolution 2253 asks all member states to submit the names of individuals who have travelled overseas for purposes related to terrorism and also of entities that support ISIS and al-Qaeda.
The list currently contains 256 names which include British, French, German and American citizens.
A majority names are from Arab countries, but other countries like China, Russia, Pakistan, India, Turkey, Indonesia and the Philippines have also listed citizens. But there are no Canadians on the list, indicating that Canada is amongst other countries like Belgium in not providing names.
UN List Flags Off Suspects Internationally
Under the UN system, once an individual is listed he/she is assigned a permanent reference number that helps countries to identify them.
Comprehensive information about them including description, aliases used and known addresses are provided in Interpol “special notices,” along with instructions to “prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of these individuals.”
It also requires all countries to freeze assets that belong to them.
The list has been successful in encouraging countries that aren’t necessarily co-operative in providing details on their dangerous citizens, to share information.
Canadian Government Asserts Its Doing Enough
According to the government around 180 people have left Canada for terrorist purposes and not yet returned. It insists that it is doing everything it can to find these people and convict them.
So far Interpol has issued “red notices” to seven Canadians based on the country’s request, for their involvement in jihadist extremism , which includes John Maguire, Khadar Khalib, and Farah Shirdon.
However Interpol notices do not contain detailed information on the suspects including no birth certificates, aliases, passports used, or past addresses, making it difficult to track them.
Several Known Terrorists Are Canadian Origin
Some Canadians have become well-known leaders in the jihadist world but they do not figure in the UN list.
For instance, Farah Shirdon, is a Calgary man who joined ISIS in 2014. He was declared by the US as a “specially designated global terrorist” who is described as “a prominent ISIS fighter and recruiter” and also involved in fundraising. He has been seen in a video in which he threatened Canada and burned his Canadian passport.
According to the U.S. government it may have killed Shirdon in an airstrike in Mosul, but the RCMP has said that there is no compelling proof of his death as yet. Despite this he does not appear in the UN list.
Public Safety Canada spokesperson Andrew Gowing stated that Canada uses several “domestic tools” to address “terrorism and extremist travellers.”
He pointed out that Canada has its own list of terrorist entities, which is used by law enforcement authorities to prosecute terrorists as well as their supporters. When an entity is added to the list, all financial institutions including banks freeze all listed assets and Canadians are cannot “knowingly deal with such assets.”
But according to critics, non-Canadians may not get access to such Canadian lists .
International Lists Good Way To Track Terrorists
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale further stated most of the Canadians who had travelled to Iraq and Syria would have moves on to third countries by now, rather than returning to Canada.
Christian Leuprecht of the Royal Military College believes that this makes international lists more important. The list helps overcome the lack of intelligence exchange or support in other countries like Saudi Arabia or Iran according to him and prevents the perpetuators from exploiting such situations .
Leuprecht highlighted that Canada uses other mechanisms such as the Five Eyes intelligence group, to tackle the problem but it was no reason to neglect the UN list. Further such programs may have limited reach.
