New police data on the Prevent strategy with regards to the race of people referred to the UK government’s counter-extremism programme, prompts fears that schools and the public sector in England and Wales are reporting people as potential ‘extremists’ due to racial bias, the human rights organisation Rights & Security International said.
Although the police are only keeping poor-quality data on the Prevent strategy, the records they do have raise concerns that Britons of Asian, Black and Middle Eastern descent are being reported to Prevent at rates vastly higher than their representation in the overall population, the organisation noted.
Statistics published annually by the Home Office show that most people referred to Prevent are children or young people under 21, meaning that any racist referrals may be particularly impacting school-age youth.
“Prevent has always been a recipe for racism, especially against children,” said Sarah St Vincent, Executive Director of RSI.
“The UK uses it to force schools, hospitals, local authorities and police to report people based on vague criteria that leave enormous room for bias. At a time when far-right violence against migrants and minorities in the UK has been exploding, this new data suggests that Prevent is worse than useless: it reinforces and perpetuates racism.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) disclosed data to RSI in May and June of this year concerning 16,606 Prevent referrals made between 2019 and 2024, following freedom of information requests from the organisation.
Read more on the RSI website.
Related…
Read our submission to the UN to remove Prevent from education and health (Expert View, 2024)
