Terror groups pose ‘deadly’ threat by infiltrating Muslim aid charities, says watchdog

CHARITIES face a “deadly” and growing threat from terrorist groups, a government watchdog has warned.

There are increasing fears that extremists are infiltrating Muslim charities to promote violence, to recruit vulnerable youngsters for jihad and to fund terrorism. The Charity Commission warned that some aid workers who travelled to help victims of the war in Syria and Iraq have been recruited by terrorists, while other charities have had goods stolen and staff kidnapped.

The Commission, which regulates charities in the UK, has seen a big increase in the number of serious incidents and reports about charities being targeted by extremists in the past year. Formal legal disclosures of information between the commission and the police and other agencies over charities caught in alleged Islamist activities more than doubled between 2014 and 2015, from 234 times to 506.

Watchdog officials carried out 80 inspection visits of charities judged to be vulnerable to terrorists and extremism, either because they operated in Syria and other high-risk areas or because of their activities in Britain, such as inviting radical speakers.

William Shawcross, chairman of the commission, said that his staff would take an “increasingly robust” approach to charities that are vulnerable to extremists.

He said: “We are working hard, together with other agencies, to prevent Islamist abuse of charities and to counter any terrorist threats.”

Mr Shawcross said the risk from extremism was “one of the most deadly threats faced by some charities today”.

There were also 11 reports of the most serious category of incidents in 201415, up from seven the previous year, the watchdog said: two involved the kidnap of staff or seizure of goods by terrorists; one saw the arrest of a charity worker on terror offences and eight involved reports of charities expressing support for extremist causes.

Last year, David Haines and Alan Henning, both British aid workers, were murdered by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) after they were kidnapped and held hostage.