Monitoring Prevent in Brent is seeking support from local organisations and individuals for the public statement at the end of this article. To add your support please do so in a 'Comment' at the foot of the item or email MonitoringPrevent@gmail.com Anyone can sign but please state if you live or work in the London Borough of Brent. Thank you.
Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism is a problem we cannot
ignore. Prejudice against the Muslim community is fuelled by leading
politicians and by a constant stream of negative media reporting. Muslims are continually represented as a
threat or as holding alien values or refusing to ‘integrate’.
A recent Public Attitudes Survey found that 71% of those
surveyed thought that ‘Islam was incompatible with
British culture’ and 45% of Britons think ‘there are too many Muslims in the
country’. The Kilburn Times reported in
Feb 2016 that Islamophobic attacks in Brent increased eight-fold from December
2015 compared to the same month in 2014.
We are particularly concerned by the impact of the
measures taken against so-called ‘non-violent extremism’ under the government’s
'Prevent' strategy.
Despite claims to the contrary, ‘Prevent’ almost
exclusively targets young Muslims for the views they hold on religion or issues
such as government foreign policy. For
example, in South Yorkshire, schools singled out black and
ethnic minority pupils for monitoring for signs of ‘radicalisation’– while
suggesting white children were not at risk.
These are but a few instances of
families subjected to distress due to arbitrary monitoring despite there being
no suggestion of violent intent. LINK
Schools, teachers, local
authority, health and social workers are cast in the role of spies on
our young people, leading to increasing division and to a breakdown of trust in
universities, schools, colleges and in other
services. Members of teacher’s unions have recounted numerous
examples of pupils who are afraid to discuss issues openly for fear
of being labelled as potential extremists.
This is precisely a situation in which young people can feel isolated
and where prejudice can remain unchallenged.
Most people are opposed to
violence as a way of dealing with complex social and political issues:
by closing down legitimate discussion and debate, Prevent seriously risks
driving some into the arms of the extremists.
Some young people are indeed
subject to risks that require immediate and appropriate action.
However, as the National Union of
Teachers points out, there are existing safeguarding procedures in every local
authority and public service that are designed for this. The real danger is
that the Prevent Strategy is helping fuel Islamophobia without, in fact
achieving its avowed aim of tackling ‘non-violent extremism’.
Brent is rightly proud of its
diversity and has taken many commendable steps to foster good community
relations and integrate its different communities.
It is therefore deeply regrettable that Brent Council has
implemented Prevent without proper discussion with community organisations and
representatives, faith leaders, teachers’ unions or parents.
We the undersigned:
TO SIGN PLEASE CLICK ON COMMENTS AT END OF ARTICLE AND CHOOSE LAST OPTION (ANONYMOUS) FROM MENU.1. request a statement from Brent which makes clear their position regarding their reservations about the Prevent policy and the need to find more community sensitive solutions2. urge the council to be transparent about Prevent and what it is doing to implement it across all of its services, as far as it can within the legal and statutory constraints placed on it by the government.3. ask the council to clarify what these constraints placed by the government on transparency are4. urge the council to be transparent in its appointments (including consultants) related to Prevent and other counter-terrorism related projects5. with regards to the education sector, we ask that the Council set up, facilitate and regularly report to a Standing Forum, comprising Head Teachers, School Governors, teaching unions, parents and community organisations, which will monitor and report on the implementation of Prevent in education (and services where they may intersect, such as the police and social service) in the borough6. request that the Council publish annually, year-on-year data on the numbers of pupils and families in Brent who are referred under all of the headings relating to Prevent, including those referred to ‘Channel’ – the point at which the police are involved.7. urge the Council to raise its concerns about Prevent in all the organisations in which it participates e.g. the Local Government Association8. ask Brent Council to affirm that our schools should be safe places where pupils should be encouraged to freely discuss ideas and issues without fear that this will lead to a reaction from the authorities.9. ask that the Council address the legitimate needs of Muslims as citizens and tackle the issue of institutional Islamophobia in its own services and that it reports on the steps it is taking to counter this.10. ask that the Council recognise the need to create safe spaces for the necessary conversations to happen in the community and in the statutory sector, regarding the implementation of Prevent
EXAMPLE
YOU CAN PUT YOUR NAME AT END OF YOUR COMMENT. ALTERNATIVELY EMAIL MonitoringPrevent@gmail.com
