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by Chaminda Jayanetti
A new report published by the Institute of Race Relations has accused the British government of using an anti-extremism programme to spy on innocent Muslims.
The government introduced the Preventing Violent Extremism strategy – also known simply as ‘Prevent’ – in an attempt to stop people taking on what it sees as radical religious and political viewpoints, on the grounds that these can then lead to terrorist recruitment.
However, the IRR’s Arun Kundnani and Guardian journalist Vikram Dodd unearthed evidence that local community projects funded under the Prevent scheme are being used by the police to gather information on British Muslims’ political and religious views as a matter of routine, regardless of whether they are suspected of criminal or terrorist activity.
The manager of a youth project in northern England told the IRR: “More and more pressure is being placed on our organisation to collude with police needs. We have had a host of requests from the police to collude with them, for example asking us for names of people at meetings and things like ‘oh, can you just have a conversation with …’ calls.
“When we refuse, we have been told by the police that ‘you are standing in our way’ and they have tried to undermine our organisation. We have been threatened but we have refused to share the beliefs, views and opinions of people we work with.”
The IRR report warned that forcing youth and community workers to share information with police cuts across the relationship of trust that is essential to their line of work.
A community worker in the north said of Prevent projects: “Any information that they consider sensitive, they have to give it over to the police. Not just for crimes about to be committed but names and telephone numbers of individuals in the community. Youth workers have been told that they have to give information and phone numbers of individuals they are working with.”
Vikram Dodd’s report in the Guardian, which was researched separately from the IRR report but published to coincide with it, unearthed other cases of Muslims being suspected of extremism due to the Prevent strategy.
The Guardian alleged that funding for a mental health project for Muslims in the Midlands was linked to information about individuals being passed to the authorities, and that a new youth project in London was being asked by the Metropolitan Police to provide names and details of Muslim youngsters as a condition of funding.
The Home Office, which runs Prevent together with the Communities Department, rejected allegations that the scheme was being used to spy on Muslims.
The Muslim Council of Britain, which represents many of Britain’s mosques but has a frosty relationship with the government, reacted with concern to the reports.
In a press statement, Secretary General Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari said: “These latest reports are disturbing and, if true, totally counter-productive in collective pursuit of terrorists. We risk playing into the hands of the terrorists by singling out entire communities.”
A new report published by the Institute of Race Relations has accused the British government of using an anti-extremism programme to spy on innocent Muslims
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