Canadian Civilians Fighting ISIS (including threats to YPG)

[The Bread Guy]

Here is how the UK is treating at least some of their YPG fighters ...

A former soldier has appeared in court charged with terrorism offences for allegedly plotting to join Kurdish militia fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Daniel Burke, 32, from Manchester, was remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on two counts of preparing acts of terrorism.

He is accused of organising transport for a fellow British fighter to travel to Iraq via Spain.

Mr Burke is also charged with funding terrorism in an online account.

The former soldier, served in the Parachute Regiment between 2007 and 2009, was remanded to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on 17 January.

Mr Burke, of Amberwood Drive, is said to have spent around eight months fighting against so-called Islamic State with the Kurdish YPG between late 2017 and June 2018 before returning to the UK.

The first charge relates to allegedly organising transport for a fellow fighter while the second relates to making similar arrangements for himself to rejoin YPG.
'Propaganda magazine'

The third charge alleges he supplied ex-comrades in the YPG with cash and equipment via online platforms such as PayPal.

The court heard that Mr Burke decided to return to Syria after US President Donald Trump's decision to pull US forces out of Syria and the subsequent invasion of Kurdish-held areas by Turkey.

A second man was also remanded in custody by the court accused of four counts of possession of a document likely to be useful to a terrorist relating to copies of al-Qaida propaganda magazine Inspire.

It is alleged the documents were found on a phone belonging to Italian-national Salim Yousouffi, 25, who had only been in the UK since September and was living at an address in Small Heath, Birmingham, with his wife ...

 

[The Bread Guy]

Latest on how Germany's handling this ...

The Kurdish YPG militia did the heavy lifting in the fight against the "Islamic State," yet many foreign YPG adherents, including Germans, have come home to find themselves under suspicion of terrorism.

(...)

In practice, there is indeed a distinction between returning IS adherents and YPG returnees: According to the security authorities, 122 people had returned to Germany from the terrorist caliphate as of mid-October 2019; the Federal Prosecutor's Office has filed charges against 23 of them for membership in a foreign terrorist organization.

The authorities estimate the number of YPG returnees to be well over 100. However, while around 30 investigations have been initiated, not one YPG supporter has been charged to date. The Federal Ministry of Justice confirmed to DW in writing: "According to the current practice of the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the investigation proceedings are generally terminated." The prosecutor can refrain from prosecuting alleged crimes if they were committed abroad. The fact that it investigated German YPG fighters without charge appears to have political reasons.

(...)

The Interior Ministry and the Federal Criminal Police Office also confirmed to DW that none of the YPG returnees is currently classified as a threat. In stark contrast, almost half of IS returnees — 53 of the 122 known cases — are officially considered as Gefährder, a criminal designation for suspects considered threats to public safety. The German government provided the information in mid-November in response to an official parliamentary inquiry from the Left Party in the Bundestag ...