"The UK government is rushing to adopt some of the most problematic changes to counterterrorism policy in years," Izza Leghtas, Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch, said, as published on the watchdog's website.
The measures that the law envisages may curb free movement, free expression and alienate certain communities, Human Rights Watch claimed.
According to the parliament's website, if the bill is adopted, it will allow the government to confiscate passports of citizens suspected of leaving the country to engage in terrorism activities abroad. Moreover, it will allow temporary exclusion from the United Kingdom for two years, as well as oblige schools, colleges, universities, the police, prisons, probation providers and local governments to make sure people with extremist views are not engaged in terrorism.
The bill is being considered in the context of rising concern over the frequent cases of Western nationals traveling to Syria and Iraq to join extremist groups, in particular, Islamic State.
