'British citizens should be cautious about travelling to war-stricken countries like Syria'

British citizens should be cautious about travelling to war-stricken countries like Syria where there is no ability to provide consular assistance to the citizens, a UK diplomat said on Tuesday.

New Delhi [India], July 30 : British citizens should be cautious about travelling to war-stricken countries like Syria where there is no ability to provide consular assistance to the citizens, a UK diplomat said on Tuesday.

Speaking to on ISIS brides having origins in the UK, Richard Barlow, the Head of Political and Bilateral Affairs at the British High Commission said, "It's a very complex and controversial issue, As the UK government, our starting point has to be our law. Our law says that anybody who commits acts of terrorism, or incites terrorism whether in the UK or overseas, is subject to the penalties of the law."

"As a foreign ministry official, my second comment will be that we've always been clear with our British citizens that we cannot support them in countries like Syria where we have no ability to provide consular assistance," he said.

"We advise against all travel. So it's a very difficult situation for these people who have taken the decision so, I'm afraid, they have to be responsible for their decisions," added Barlow.

Starting 2012, several women travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) as brides of terrorists. A few women from the UK were also amongst them.

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( With inputs from ANI )