22 June, 2022 – COVID-19 brought to light the widespread racial inequity in the UK’s public health sector, compounded by the poverty crisis, social housing issues, and the air pollution crisis. The past two years stressed the importance of access, trust, and care in public health services for racially minoritised communities in Britain that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. However, as long as Prevent exists in the NHS, these crucial cornerstones of healthcare will remain out of reach for the Muslim community. Source: How Prevent undermines Muslims’ access to UK’s public health
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Prevent News
CategoriesNews Johnson’s attacks on ‘lefty lawyers’ are childish and sinister
David Renton explains how the government has attempted to justify its Rwanda policy in the press and through attacks on lawyers. Instead of letting refugees settle here, Boris Johnson intends to force them to live in central Africa. The main justification of the Rwanda scheme is that it is so unpleasant that it will scare refugees and dissuade others from following them, so that the number of people coming to Britain will fall. But the focus here is not on the ridiculousness of the scheme as such, but rather the way the government has attempted to justify it in the press through attacks on left-wing lawyers. Source: Johnson’s attacks on ‘lefty lawyers’ are childish and sinister | Morning Star
CategoriesNews PROP Expert View: The TIMES gets it all wrong on Prevent – here’s why
Times columnist, James Forsyth (‘Islamism is a greater threat than the far right’, June 16) seriously misrepresents the government’s Prevent strategy and its relation to counter-terrorism. He writes in anticipation of the publication of the much-delayed Shawcross Report, which makes his piece troubling. James Forsyth believes that the number of far right referrals is disproportionate to the risk when compared with those who have committed terrorist offences. This is factually incorrect; in 2021, out of 186 actual terrorism arrests, over 40% were related to suspected right-wing terrorism. Despite the statistics of actual terror offences showing a problem of far-right in terms of actual suspected offences, Prevent still focuses on Muslims. Source: The TIMES gets it all wrong on Prevent – here’s why
The Prevent Duty
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The Prevent Duty is championed by the government as an effective strategy to prevent terrorism, however, evidence suggests this is having an adverse effect on communities. Thousands of Prevent referrals are made each year but very few of them lead to any intervention.
Prevent Watch has supported hundreds of people impacted by Prevent. Our case studies show a huge failing of the Prevent Duty. We provide a free helpline with dedicated case workers to support people impacted by the Prevent Duty. We provide access to lawyers, media, research and much more.
Prevent Cases
Muslim boy, 4, was referred to Prevent over game of Fortnite | UK news | The Guardian
A four-year-old boy’s referral to the government’s anti-extremism Prevent strategy after talking about the popular Fortnite video game at his after-school club has prompted fresh calls to abolish the controversial scheme. The boy, who is from the West Midlands and is a Muslim, was referred to Prevent in September 2019 after saying that his father had “guns and bombs in his shed”. However, transcripts of a conversation with a club worker reveal that the reference to weaponry was linked to Fortnite. The child’s mother believes that if her boy were white and not a Muslim he wouldn’t have been considered at risk of radicalisation. In the first (anonymous) interview from a parent of an under-six referred to Prevent, she described her upset at police turning up at the family home at 10.30pm. “It could have gone really wrong. I worry armed police could have come to my house and, you […]
Boy who was referred to Prevent over misinformed ‘terror concerns’ wins case against Met Police | Asian Image
An aspiring doctor who was referred to Prevent over “misinformed” claims that he was “obsessed” with killing David Cameron must have his personal data deleted by the Metropolitan Police, the High Court has ruled. The boy – known only as II – was 11 when a tutor raised concerns in December 2015 that he allegedly wanted to kill the then prime minister, had spoken about “America being evil” and said he “liked Game Of Thrones because of the beheadings”. Officers with the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme spoke to his mother, NK, who said her son had recently written a letter he wanted to send to Mr Cameron which “spoke of peace and unity throughout the world”. Source: Boy who was referred to Prevent over misinformed ‘terror concerns’ wins case against Met Police | Asian Image
Muslim school kids “taught to spy on each other” – 5Pillars
5Pillars has been told that two schools in the UK have been trying to train Muslim pupils to effectively spy on each other. Prevent Watch, which monitors the government’s controversial counter-extremism programme, told 5Pillars that the schools, one in Birmingham and one in Slough, have been training, or attempting to train, their pupils in the Prevent strategy. All schools are required to deliver the Prevent duty and “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.” However, it has been assumed until now that teachers are responsible for delivering Prevent and this is the first time that we have heard of pupils themselves being trained to deliver the strategy. 5Pillars spoke to a 17 year old pupil at Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College in Birmingham, which has an overwhelming majority Muslim intake. The student told us that around a month ago his whole year group had been trained to look out […]
What we’re working on
The People’s Review of Prevent
On 12 February 2019, the government committed to carrying out an independent review of Prevent. We explain why the Government’s review of Prevent resulted in a boycott across civic society and the resultant alternative, the People’s Review of Prevent.
The Trojan Horse Affair
The Trojan Horse Affair ensured the Prevent was embedded in legislation under the guise of safeguarding. We analyse the events that unfolded in 2014 to reveal how they impact Prevent as we know it today.
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We are incredibly grateful for your ongoing support.
Dr Layla Aitlhadj
Director, Prevent Watch