As countries including Australia wrestle how to deal with returning foreign fighters, a United Nations report has warned that Iraq and Syria have become an "international finishing school" for extremists.
Attorney-General George Brandis says Australia is also facing a growing problem in that the people becoming radicalised are increasingly coming from a younger age-group.
The UN report said the flow of foreign fighters represented "an immediate and long-term threat," but also warns a military defeat of Islamic State could have the unintended consequence of scattering violent extremists across the world.
"For the thousands of (foreign fighters) who travelled to the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq ... they live and work in a veritable 'international finishing school' for extremists as it was in the case in Afghanistan during the 1990s," the report said.
The report, presented to the UN Security Council late last month, reveals more than 25,000 foreigners from more than 100 countries travelled to join al-Qaeda, Islamic State and other terror networks between mid-2014 and March 2015 - an increase of 71 per cent.
It cites the high number of foreign fighters from Tunisia, Morocco, France and Russia, but also points out terror organisations have also recruited in Australia, and warns the flow of fighters "is higher than it has ever been".
It's estimated about 150 Australians have already travelled to fight in Syria and Iraq, with 92 believed to have joined Islamic State and other groups. Twenty Australians have been killed.
Senator Brandis, in response to questions about the UN report, said experience in Australia and abroad had shown that individuals radicalise for different reasons.
"Regrettably, over the last six months, the demographic has continued to get younger, with teenage boys and girls as young as 15 and 16 being stopped at airports and those as young as 14 being radicalised," Senator Brandis told AAP on Thursday.
He said targeted intervention programmes were either now operating, or being rolled out, in all jurisdictions.
The UN report also suggests the most effective policy for dealing with the foreign-fighter problem is to prevent radicalisation, recruitment and travel of would-be fighters.
More than 100 Australians have already had their passports cancelled, and another nine have been suspended in response to security concerns connected to the conflict in Syria and Iraq.
Australia is one of several Western nations to have directly joined the fight against Islamic State, taking part in bombing missions, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott last week said Australian troops will stay in the Middle East fighting IS "for as long as is necessary".
Share
