UN backs laws against foreign fighters

The United Nations Security Council demanded on Wednesday that all states make it a serious criminal offense for their citizens to travel abroad to fight with militant groups, or to recruit and fund others to do so, in a move sparked by the rise of the Islamic State in the Levant and Iraq (ISIL).

At a meeting chaired by President Barack Obama, the 15-member council unanimously adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution that compels countries to "prevent and suppress" the recruitment and travel of militant fighters to foreign conflicts.

The U.N. action was prompted by the rise of ISIL and Al-Qaeda's Syrian wing, the Nusra Front. Some 12,000 fighters from more than 70 nations have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight with extremist groups, experts say.

The resolution is under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes it legally binding for the 193 U.N. member states and gives the Security Council authority to enforce decisions with economic sanctions or force.

It generally targets fighters traveling to conflicts anywhere in the world. It does not mandate military force to tackle the foreign fighter issue.

Obama said he recognized if the resolution was not followed by action, the vote would not accomplish anything.

"Words spoken here today must be matched and translated into actions, into deeds, concrete action within nations and between them, not just in days ahead but days to come," Obama said.

Obama is building a global coalition to combat ISIL, which has captured swaths of Syria and Iraq and urged followers to attack citizens of various countries. The United States has led airstrikes against the group in Iraq and Syria.

Obama told the U.N. General Assembly earlier on Wednesday that the Security Council resolution would underscore the responsibility of states to counter violent extremism.

"But resolutions must be followed by tangible commitments, so we're accountable when we fall short," he said. "Next year, we should all be prepared to announce the concrete steps that we have taken to counter extremist ideologies in our own countries."

The U.N. resolution expresses concern that "foreign terrorist fighters increase the intensity, duration and intractability of conflicts, and also may pose a serious threat to their states of origin, the states they transit, and the states to which they travel."

Obama chaired the Security Council because the United States is president of the body for September.

Al Jazeera and Reuters