On Sunday, an 11-year-old Muslim boy in Warwickshire, UK, was investigated by the police after his lecturers referred him to the federal government’s counter-radicalisation ‘Prevent’ programme. According to the boy’s household, he had been requested what he would do if in possession of some huge cash, and replied he would “give alms to the oppressed.” The trainer interpreted this as “give arms to the oppressed” and reported the coed to the authorities.
The boy’s mother and father are taking authorized motion in opposition to the varsity, accusing it of stereotyping primarily based on race and faith. They are asking for a written apology, cost of damages and for the referral to be faraway from the boy’s everlasting file.
Though the case was swiftly dismissed, the boy’s mother and father, who spoke to The Guardian on the matter, stated their household was left distressed. They concern that the referral, regardless of being closed, will stay on his everlasting file, and handed all the way down to the grammar faculty he’s set to attend in September.
The household’s lawyer, Attiq Malik of Liberty Law Solicitors, has known as for the Prevent programme to be scrapped, reported The Guardian.
What is UK’s Prevent programme
According to a Financial Times report, the Prevent programme was launched in 2003 and scaled up after the 7/7 London bombings of 2005, by which 52 individuals had been killed. The report notes that the federal government has claimed 1,200 individuals had been efficiently “diverted from extremism” because of the programme as of 2019.
Under the programme, if a tip-off is deemed to benefit a proper referral, it triggers a overview course of to resolve the very best course of intervention. Minor instances are resolved via means like parenting assist, whereas instances thought to pose a major risk of extremism are escalated to probably the most intensive degree of Prevent, often known as Channel.
The Prevent programme has confronted criticism earlier than this too. Speaking to The Guardian, Dr Layla Aitlhadj, director of Prevent Watch, stated: “Prevent injects suspicion and discrimination deep into the imagination of frontline workers to the detriment of Muslims.”
In the previous, kids have been referred to Prevent over related misunderstandings. Notably, a nursery employee as soon as referred a toddler after the four-year-old drew an image of his father with a cucumber, which the trainer thought was a cooker bomb.
