British government accused of alienating Muslims

LONDON: A high-profile British House of Commons select committee report has damned the Labour government policy on countering the Islamist extremism, declaring that the PREVENT has “stigmatised and alienated” Muslims and undermined community relations.

The PREVENT scheme was launched with much fanfare as a flagship policy to deal with the threat of Muslim religious extremism, radicalisation and to end the alienation of Muslims in Britain.

The cross-party Communities & Local Government (CLG) Select Committee’s inquiry into the government’s ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ (PVE) programme called for parts of the programme linked to crime prevention, such as mentoring and counselling for young radicals, to be handed to the Home Office.

The cross-party committee of MPs, who interviewed Muslim organisations and individuals, were told that that they believed the purpose of the PREVENT programme was to “spy” on Asian communities, and that the government was using funding to nurture a softer form of Islam and pliant Muslims.

Muslim groups and opposition parties were yesterday quick to welcome the findings of the report and called on the government to scrap the scheme, which had become a byword for effective spying.

In a statement to The News, the Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government and Communities, Caroline Spelman, said: “We have long been critical of the government’s approach and this reports confirms our longstanding concern that there are serious failings in the way the government has used taxpayers’ money in this important policy area.

“It’s clear that that too much money has been wasted on unfocussed and irrelevant projects, which have created confusion and increased the risk of alienating the very communities it ought to engage.

“We need a complete review of the PREVENT strategy, with an emphasis on removing the confusion

between counter terrorism and cohesion work, shifting the emphasis to funding groups which bring communities together and ensuring compatibility with fundamental rights and freedoms.”

Massoud Shadjareh, the chair of Islamic Human Rights Commission, who gave evidence before the committee late last year, said the Commons report highlights the concerns regarding intelligence gathering under the guise of community cohesion projects i.e. effectively spying on communities.

He told The News: “This aspect of PREVENT is very clear to Muslim communities, in particular young people, and as such is deeply alienating. “We welcome the reportís understanding that PREVENT’s policies appear to be aimed at engineering belief and practice in a theological sense.”

The Muslim Council of Britain welcomed the findings. The MCB said that the committee’s findings reflects the deep anxiety felt by Britain’s Muslims as it had become the central policy tool for government to engage with Muslim communities. In effect, Britain’s Muslims are only seen through the prism of security.

Commenting on the report, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, the Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “We support the reportís findings and are relieved that it echoes our own concerns on the effectiveness of the PREVENT programme and policy.”

He said: “The CLG would do well to sincerely take on board the recommendations made in the report and rebuild the trust amongst the Muslim communities and other faiths, in order to further cement the notion of community cohesion.”

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne said: “The Prevent programme alienates and marginalises Muslim communities and exacerbates racist bias and ignorant views.

“Everyone wants to combat violent extremism but that should not mean gathering and keeping intelligence on innocent people.

“This programme has just prevented a practical solution to tackling the problem.” A spokesperson for the Department for Communities and Local Government told The News: “We welcome the committee’s report, in particular the recognition that a targeted PREVENT programme is necessary. However, we are disappointed that the report does not reflect the measures put in place during the last year to address criticism of PREVENT.

“The government has made clear that all forms of extremism must be tackled and has increased funding to tackle white racist extremism.

“PREVENT is a crime prevention programme aimed at making it less likely that young people will be drawn into criminal terrorist acts. All PREVENT activities are designed to support all communities, and particularly, Muslim communities in resisting those who target their young people. There has been no substantiated evidence that PREVENT programmes are keeping Muslim communities under surveillance and ministers have made clear that there should be complete openness and transparency about the way in which information may be shared between agencies for crime prevention. “Promoting community cohesion remains a government priority in its own right but will not be sufficient on its own to tackle those promoting AQ influenced violence.”