‘Radicalisation’ – Prevention Begins At Home

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It’s not for the police to bring up our children, says Sian Killean. Responsibility for ‘jihadi brides’ lies primarily with the parents.

It makes no sense to blame the police for the disappearance of schoolgirls who have gone to join ISIS and other extremist groups in the Middle East. No matter how much turmoil their families are going through, we must understand that it is still a family affair rather than a law and order issue.

More than 18 teenagers are now believed to have left the UK in order to join ISIS, including three teenage girls who had been students at Bethnal Green Academy.

Under pressure for not having done enough to stop them going to Syria, Helen Ball, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, appeared on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show to insist that: ‘We are using everything that we can in order to combat it. A lot of what we deal with now comes from communities and the public who report suspicious behaviour’.

Ball went on to observe that the number of arrests has gone up because the police are devoting more resources to the struggle against Jihadist grooming. ‘In 2013 there were 25 arrests made, in 2014 there were 165 made,’ she said.

Working alongside the police are groups such as Inspire, which seeks to empower Muslim women to create their own community groups. Asked by Andrew Marr if the Bethan Green girls were not old enough to take responsibility for their own actions, Kalsoom Bashir replied that: ‘they are young and naïve and don’t understand the truths of Islam from the lies. We try to help young Muslim women by setting up grassroots communities.’

This is a positive development; and the police, too, are playing a positive role in carrying out surveillance and making arrests where necessary.

But please note that they cannot be held responsible for policing family life – not unless you want a police officer stationed inside every home.

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