A counter-terrorism conference has heard that the collapse of ISIS will lead to thousands of fighters returning back to the West. (The Australian, October 7, 2016, p. 2) It was also heard that the frequency of terrorist attacks was on the rise to in the West and Islamic radicalisation was occurring quickly. There was, according to analysis by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a 650 percent increase in terrorism-related deaths between 2014 and 2015.
Returning terrorists will increase the lethality of terrorist attacks and also that of home-grown terrorists who did not go to Syria and Iraq, presumably through training. Our Financial Services Minister has said that “terrorism has the potential to cause significant damage to domestic economies” and would be a shock to “financial institutions or systems, on investor and consumer confidence, and on tourism.”
Common sense would dictate simply not letting these fighters back in, since the Federal Police have said that it will be difficult due to lack of evidence (due to security secrets) to charge them. But my bet is that not a single one will be prevented from returning to this land where all immigration is sacred.