photo 1: The ISYF was tied to the Khalistan issue
photo 2: Bhai Amrik Singh . . . claims work is underway to lift ISYF restrictions in Canada.
London: All restrictions on the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) have been lifted across the European Union – and the Sikh Federation (UK) says it is “working with Sikhs” in Canada to get Canadian restrictions on the ISYF lifted too.
In a statement, the federation said that on March 18, the UK Government lifted the ban on the ISYF following a legal challenge by leading figures in the federation and historic debates in the Houses of Commons and Lords.
During the debates, the UK Government was pushed to take up the matter of restrictions on the ISYF in the European Union that established a list of persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist acts and subject to restrictive measures on December 27, 2001 as part of its response against terrorism after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The ISYF was widely believed to be deeply involved in actions related to the Khalistan issue in the 1980s and beyond.
The list included persons and groups active both within and outside the EU. These were additional measures adopted in order to implement UN Security Council resolution 1373 (2001).
Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, put forward a proposal to the Council of the European Union to remove the ISYF restrictions. Following the lifting of the ban in the UK, the Council determined that there were no longer grounds for keeping the ISYF on what has become known as the “EU terror list”.
The Council lifted the ban on the ISYF across Europe by adopting Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/620 that applies to all EU Member States.
Bhai Amrik Singh, chair of the Sikh Federation (UK) said: “We have now not only lifted the ban on the ISYF in the UK, but Sikhs across Europe will be delighted we have also had the ISYF removed from the EU terror list established in 2001 and last reviewed on 21 December 20015.
“We are now extremely confident the ban on the ISYF can be lifted in Canada and are working with Sikhs there.
“Despite misinformation the US has never imposed a ban on any Sikh organisations. India will then be the only country to retain a ban on the ISYF.”
