There are 17,000 Muslim prisoners in the UK, including more than 300 women. These women are held in 12 women’s jails of the United Kingdom. The Muslim prisoners, especially women, have no one to turn to after the release. They either return to the world of crime or end up taking their lives. According to a report published in the UK called “(In)Visibility: Female Muslim Imprisoned”, 70 percent of women prisoners were involved in the crimes because of the pressure from male relatives.

Maqsood Ahmed, the researcher, says, “Most female inmates are incarcerated in prisons because of the negative role of their male relatives or partners.”

In many cases, drugs were placed in the luggage of female passengers. If airport authorities caught them, the male partner escaped, the woman was arrested and sent to jail. According to this report such victims make up 40 percent of all female prisoners.

Another report, prepared by Baroness King, says, “some women take the law into their hands after facing horrible domestic violence. They then inadvertently commit a major crime, a prime example of which was the mother of a sitting British Pakistani member of Parliament who killed her alleged lover. She was sent to jail, where she was got cancer and died in prison.”

Fatima (not her real name) is a Muslim woman from Senegal arrested under a drug trafficking crime at the local airport. She says that she committed this crime at the behest of her husband and has been sentenced to four years in prison. Talking to this correspondent, she says that the British society indulges in discriminatory behaviour against the BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) in prison. The same attitude prevails in the justice system as well, she says. She says that ethnic minorities are dealt with as second-class citizens and are made to feel inferior.

A report presented by David Lammy, the Labour member of Parliament and the shadow justice secretary, published under the name The Lammy Review, also found that ethnic minorities are punished more severely than the white majority for the same crime. A similar report by Baroness King pointed out that ethnic minorities have been discriminated against.

Abdul Razaq Sajid, the chairperson of Al Mustafa Trust, says that when Muslim prisoners are released from prison, they often do not know their destination, where they will live and from where they can get food.

According to a report published in the UK called “(In)Visibility: Female Muslim Imprisoned”, 70 percent of women prisoners were involved in the crimes because of the pressure from male relatives. Maqsood Ahmed, the researcher, says, “Most female inmates are incarcerated in prisons because of the negative role of their male relatives or partners.” 

“A new tragedy awaits them outside the prison after their release. They experience a different situation regarding integration. Usually, they are not allowed to integrate into the Muslim community and into their own families. Due to their criminal history, they cannot get any job or start a business”, he adds.

He says that most of them do not have sufficient funds for food, are sleeping rough and living in deplorable situations. He notes that the conditions are worse for Muslim women coming out of prisons.

“There are a few centres for their mental and physical rehabilitation but these do not fulfil the needs in a satisfactory manner, especially for women. The families of most female prisoners do not accept them back into the home,” says Sajid.

Under these circumstances, neglected women prisoners have no choice but to go off the grid, or attempt suicide. Astonishingly, however, when those in jail for committing honour crimes are released, they are given a warm welcome by the community and treated like heroes. Male prisoners, in general, are more likely to get acceptance from the community and families while women prisoners are abandoned and neglected.

Mrs Karima and Mrs David are among prisoners who committed an offence again after their release simply to go to jail. According to the report, Karima and David believe that they do not have to worry about necessities/ amenities, including accommodation, food and medicines while in jail.

The report quotes from an interview with a Pakistani woman revealing that she felt more freedom in jail than at home. “I can open a bank account easily while in prison; I cannot do this at home,” she says.

Abdul Razzaq Sajid and Maqsood Ahmed, the trustee of the Prisoner Reforms Trust, say that their organisations have developed plans for the welfare of prisoners in the UK that focus on rehabilitation and integration into society soon after being released from prison.

They says that steps are being taken to provide necessities like accommodation, financial assistance, food and medicines, and legal aid to the Muslim prisoners released from prisons. At the same time, they urge religious leaders to play an active role for the rehabilitation of prisoners through special sermons in the mosques. Islamic centres and mosques, they say, can play a pivotal role in the mental and physical rehabilitation of people who have just come out of prison and back into the society.

The writer is a correspondent for Geo News, daily Jang, and The News in London