Surge in number of anti-terrorism referrals
HUNDREDS OF SUSPECTED EXTREMISTS ARE SENT TO NORTH EAST PREVENT
HUNDREDS of suspected Islamic extremists in the North East have been referred to the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy Prevent.
The region’s only intervention provider, Abdula Ahad, revealed that the agency has been dealing with an ever increasing number of referrals since he joined the team in 2014.
Abdula, from South Shields, estimates that less than a dozen of the referrals he has dealt with from the region have been any cause for real concern.
The father-of-three is one of just 65 intervention providers working with the scheme, which has come under the spotlight since Salman Abedi killed 22 people with an improvised bomb in Manchester.
Abdula is on the front line and makes regular visits to HMP Durham as part of his work to fight radi-
calism and extremism in the UK.
His mosque, the Al Azhar, in South Shields, nominated Abdula for the programme because of his wide knowledge of the Koran.
And Abdula explained that the intervention method he uses involved reasoning and debating with people, citing some of the 6,000 verses from the Koran to contradict the extreme or radical views.
“These people, they are so stubborn and arrogant, they won’t accept anyone else’s viewpoint,” he said. “You must prove them wrong with the only thing they respect which is the Koran and the words of the Prophet.”
The Prevent strategy has seen a huge increase in the number of referrals over recent years, from 179 in 2008/09 to an estimated 3,000 last year.
Many come from concerned school teachers and social workers, though police and the mosques themselves often make referrals to the programme if they are concerned about someone’s view points and behaviour.
But Abdula says the majority of referrals are not a cause for concern.
“Fortunately we don’t have much of an issue with extremism in the North East,” Abdula said.
Citing one referral, Abdula recalls a 10-year-old boy telling his school friends he was going to study Al Qaeda on his trip back to Pakistan.
He said: “I can see why his teacher was concerned, she heard a buzz word, but Al Qaeda is the name of a book on the Islamic alphabet.
“That is one of the problems, there is ignorance of Islam, people don’t know much about it.”
Other referral cases can be much more sinister.
Coming face-to-face with extremists has given Abdula an insight into the dangers the UK could face from radicalised Muslims. And the biggest terror risk to the UK is lone wolf attacks, he believes.
“There’s a lot of reasons why people may be radicalised into extremism, most often the cases are young men in their late teens and early twenties.
“They are facing problems, they’ve had a difficult life, maybe they’ve led a sinful life, they are looking for answers.
“These are the people who are vulnerable to radicalisation, it happens most often online, there are evil people on the internet.
“They convince them their sins will be forgiven. That’s the biggest risk to the UK at the moment, a lone wolf attack by someone who has been radicalised online.”
Abudla has visited HMP Durham, HMP Wandsworth and HMP Leeds on interventions and said he understands why radicalisation is such an issue in prisons.
He said: “They’re in a bad place, they’ve obviously done something wrong and they are alone with their thoughts and vulnerable, radicalisation can be like a match and the fire spreads.”
The Prevent strategy has come under fire in recent weeks and the Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, has called for it to be scrapped.
Critics say that the scheme stereotypes and spies on Muslims in the UK and only accepts a very British interpretation of the Muslim religion.
Mr Burham believes the scheme “has to go” and has previously said: “It is creating a feeling in the Muslim community that it is being spied upon and unfairly targeted.
“It is building a climate of mutual suspicion and distrust. Far from tackling extremism, it risks creating the very conditions for it to flourish.”
But for all the arguments against it, Abdula himself thinks the scheme is doing an effective job, particularly in the North East.
“Prevent does get a lot of stick but I say that we’ve got to work with what we’ve got.”