UK website to educate Muslim youth against radicalisation

Government also backs schools’ right to ban veils

LONDON // Britain launched a website yesterday that aims to educate Muslim teenagers against groups such as ISIL. It came as the government backed the right of schools to ban girls from wearing veils. British Muslim groups had a day earlier accused prime minister David Cameron of demonising their communities by saying Muslim women needed to learn English to reduce the risk of extremism.

The Educate Against Hate site will also inform parents and teachers about watching out for signs of radicalisation among youngsters, and keeping track of what they are looking at online.

It says the symptoms include “wanting to shut down debate or pursue the path of segregation”, as well as spending too much time online.

Education secretary Nicky Morgan launched the initiative at a school in East London where, last year, several students left to join ISIL in Syria. Before the launch, Mr Cameron’s government was drawn into a fresh debate about wheth- er Muslim girls should be allowed to wear veils at school.

Ms Morgan said “it is very much up to the schools” to decide their own policy on the veil.

But, she added: “There are certain things, particularly in relation to teachers who are teaching young children, particularly learning to read and to speak, where actually seeing the teacher’s mouth is very, very important.” Michael Wilshaw, the head of schools watchdog Ofsted, backed a ban on veils in schools. And on Monday Mr Cameron said he supported the right

Muslim Women’s Council

of schools to forbid students from wearing the veil, while announcing that Muslim women who failed to learn good English could face deportation from Britain.

He said that while there was no direct link between poor English-language skills and extremism, those who were not able to integrate into British society were at risk of being more susceptible to extremist ideologies. “The statements from this government regarding Muslims continue to further demonise and marginalise the Muslim community, and are counterproductive,” said the Muslim Women’s Council.

Meanwhile, Faeeza Vaid, executive director of the charity Muslim Women’s Network UK, said it wasn’t just a lack of language skills that prevented the full integration of Muslim women.

“We have broader societal issues of institutional patriarchy, discrimination and Islamophobia, and all of those systems also need to be challenged,” she said.

Since 2012, about 800 Britons have travelled to Syria to join extremist groups, with half of them still thought to be there. Another 600 have been stopped from travelling.

The statements from this government continue to further demonise and marginalise the Muslim community, and are counterproductive