RadicalizationU.K. stepping up effort to prevent radicalization of vulnerable Muslim youths

The British government has stepped up its efforts to prevent more vulnerable Muslim youths from adopting jihadist views and joining terrorist groups, specifically the Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaeda. The government’s Prevent initiative, which aims to “stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism,” funds community campaigns that mentor young people at risk of jihadist recruitment. Now it also encourages local officials and community leaders to identify and report evidence of radicalization in at risk neighborhoods throughout the United Kingdom.

Information obtained by theGuardian under the Freedom of Information Act shows that the number of places officially designated as needing support under the Prevent initiative has grown amid concerns about more British jihadists fighting in Syria alongside ISIS.

The original thirty “priority” neighborhoods in England and Wales that received funding for Prevent initiatives were provided a Prevent coordinator. Fourteen additional areas have since been designated by the U.K. Home Office as “support areas.”

When initially setup, the Prevent strategy came under criticism for stigmatizing Muslims and even funding CCTV cameras in a Muslim neighborhood of Birmingham. Now policy makers are adopting a counterterrorism strategy that takes into consideration community cohesion. The move comes after Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, a former chairwoman of the Tory party and the first Muslim to serve in the cabinet, resigned six months ago, criticizing the government’s approach towards Britain’s Muslims. She warned that failure to engage properly with communities across the United Kingdom could further fuel a climate of suspicion and undermine overall counterterrorism efforts.

She specifically targeted Communities Secretary Eric Pickles’ letter to more than 1,000 Islamic leaders which called on them to “explain and demonstrate how faith in Islam can be part of British identity.” Regarding that letter, Warsi said, “The reality is if you haven’t cultivated a friendship, if you haven’t fostered trust, then a letter out of the blue to a mosque… with whom government has refused to engage creates a climate where even the most benign of correspondence can become toxic.”

A Home Office spokesman has described the current Prevent strategy as one which “challenges terrorist ideology, supports people who are vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism and works with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalization.” A new Counterterrorism and Security Bill was approved last week which will allow British law enforcement to “disrupt” individuals who are suspected of trying to travel to Syria to join terror groups. The bill allows those individuals to be banned from leaving the country while investigations are carried out.

Home Secretary Theresa May said passing the bill was more important following the Paris terror attacks. “The shocking attacks in Paris last month, in which seventeen people lost their lives, and the many plots that the police and security and intelligence agencies continually work to disrupt, are clear evidence of the threat we face from terrorism,” she said, adding “We have a fundamental duty as a government to ensure that the people who work to keep us safe have the powers they need to do so.”