The government has hampered the fight against extremism by shunning key Muslim groups, one of Britain’s largest Islamic organisations said today.
Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said his group could have helped combat the appeal of Islamic State to young Britons, if the government had ever talked to them.
His comments came after concerns mounted over Islamic State’s continued ability to lure Britons, amid fears a family of 12 from Bradford may be on their way to join the extremist group.
The last Conservative-led government decided it would not engage with alleged non-violent extremists, and viewed the MCB as one despite it being one of the largest Islamic organisations in Britain. The policy is being continued now that the Conservatives have a majority. Towards the end of its rule, the Labour government also kept the MCB at arm’s length, but restored ties early in 2010.
Versi, who speaks for the MCB on terrorism and security issues, said: “It is important government does not talk just to those who agree with it.
“We believe by engaging with us, policies are likely to be more effective, because they will better understand the community and the consequence of policies on the community.
“There are definitely things that would be far more effective if they had engaged with us.”
His call was supported by the chair of the powerful home affairs committee in the last parliament.
Labour MP Keith Vaz said: “We have reached the stage where we have to speak to all groups that have links to Muslim communities.
“What is essential given the numbers of people going to join Isis, which is much larger than expected, is that we deal with all groups.”
On Tuesday former Tory minister Lady Warsi said her ex-colleagues were fuelling the problem by “disengaging” with Muslim communities.
She told the BBC: “Sadly over the last six or seven years there has been a policy of disengagement with British Muslim communities.
“It is now time to end that policy of disengagement and start speaking to the British Muslim communities, and empowering them to do more.”
The number of Britons who have gone to join Isis is estimated to be 700. Senior security officials say there is no sign of an end to the numbers who want to live under Isis’s rule, despite the pillorying of is barbarity.
The government is introducing controversial new anti-extremism measures, including attempts to counter jihadi propaganda, as well as imposing a duty on public bodies to prevent extremism.
But academics and counter-terrorism officials suspect a number of factors are involved in driving people to flee the west to join Isis’s caliphate.
Some come from loving families and have good educational qualifications and prospects, others have little going for them.
Isis propaganda online even highlights benefits such as free healthcare to those who join it.
The issues of youngsters going to join Isis is a Europe-wide problem, with at least 5,000 people having left the EU to join the extremists, from countries including Belgium, France and Germany.
Rik Coolsaet, Professor of International Relations at Ghent University, studied the phenomenon. He wrote a paper titled What Drives Europeans to Syria, and to IS? published in May.
Coolsaet said an absence of a future was now a bigger driver than anger at western foreign policy, which was more of a motivation in the past: “Geopolitics is less important to them than to their predecessors, who felt motivated by the struggle against the superpowers. Injustice was often a starting point in their predecessors’ journey towards extremism and terrorism. Now, personal estrangement has become the primary engine.”
He added: “The pervading no-future context seems to me the crucial push factor for Europeans going to Syria.
“The foreign fighter phenomenon is rooted in a specific youth subculture that has developed in reaction to an environment young people feel and perceive as complex, demanding, unequal and devoid of hope for improvement. It is no longer the result of a more or less protracted process of political radicalisation. It is foremost an escape from their estrangement from society and the apparent lack of empathy of society to their situation.”
Vaz warned the looming summer holiday season, with increased numbers of passengers, will make it more difficult to trace those travelling to join Isis.
Vaz said efforts to stop aspirant jihadis have to be in place before they head to Turkey: “It is too late by the time they get to Istanbul.”
After criticism of police handling of the case of three east London school girls who joined Isis earlier this year, the number of British officers based in Turkey has been increased from one to two.