London - CAGE is calling for the Children’s Commissioner to investigate the way in which the cases of the three-Syria bound girls were handled by police and security services – both before, during and after their departure. “We call for transparency and a complete disclosure of how the case was dealt with by the security services,” says Asim Qureshi, Research Director of CAGE. This follows revelations that the three Syria-bound girls hid letters given to them by the police for their parents. “The failure of the police to visit their parents, instead of giving the girls a letter, may have tipped off the girls who acted quickly to evade family.” “Launching a police-led public appeal may have actually reduced the chances of the girls considering return since the police did not offer any assurances of immunity from prosecution, while the media demonised them.” “At this time, we need solutions that work in order to safeguard our children from harm.” “The school allowed the police to interview the girls without informing their families. If these girls were already on the radar of the British authorities, how is it that they were so easily able to leave the country?”
“The securitised manner in which we deal with young people through the police, security agencies and PREVENT is creating an environment where vulnerable individuals feel threatened and alienated when they need to be safeguarded from harm. ”
PRESS ENQUIRIES:
Contact: Mr Amandla Thomas-Johnson
Phone: +(44) 207 377 6700
Email: \press@cageuk.org
Web: cage.ngo
(CC image courtesy of Policy Exchange on Flickr)
<em>London</em> - CAGE is calling for the Children’s Commissioner to investigate the way in which the cases of the three-Syria bound girls were handled by police and security services – both before, during and after their departure.
“We call for transparency and a complete disclosure of how the case was dealt with by the security services,” says <strong>Asim Qureshi, Research Director of CAGE</strong>.
This follows revelations that the three Syria-bound girls hid letters given to them by the police for their parents.
“The failure of the police to visit their parents, instead of giving the girls a letter, may have tipped off the girls who acted quickly to evade family.”
“Launching a police-led public appeal may have actually reduced the chances of the girls considering return since the police did not offer any assurances of immunity from prosecution, while the media demonised them.”
“At this time, we need solutions that work in order to safeguard our children from harm.”
“The school allowed the police to interview the girls <strong><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/06/syria-bound-girls-hid-police-letter-families">without informing their families</a></strong>. If these girls were already on the radar of the British authorities, how is it that they were so easily able to leave the country?”
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“The securitised manner in which we deal with young people through the police, security agencies and <strong><a href="https://cage.ngo/?p=3215">PREVENT</a> </strong>is creating an environment where vulnerable individuals feel threatened and alienated when they need to be safeguarded from harm. ”
<div><strong>PRESS ENQUIRIES:</strong></div>
<div></div>
<div>Contact: Mr Amandla Thomas-Johnson</div>
<div>Phone: +(44) 207 377 6700</div>
<div>Email: <strong><a href="mailto:press@cageuk.org">press@cageuk.org</a></strong></div>
<div>Web: <strong><a href="http://cage.ngo">cage.ngo</a></strong></div>
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<div>(<i><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode">CC</a> image courtesy of <strong><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/policyexchange/7208943944/in/photolist-bZ2HSY-9ZpvAc-bqezJr-c6TF2f-bZ2Jku-bZ2JHo-bZ2K5S-dYeZFi-opwahh-o8eLzW-ops9NB-fvR9By-ooudnh-o92jdC-fvAZxc-fvR31N-fvB4N4-fvAHWv-fvAcBF-fvB1h6-fvAdfH-fvAWxk-fvAQP2-fvAcSD-fvABXk-fvAU9F-fvAcmv-fvAFNK-fvQtqd-fvRfwU-fvRhKs-fvR5Vj-fvQVhL-fvAZVK-fvADfz-fvQYxC-fvATKF-fvR3qC-fvAaVa-fvR51h-fvB2oP-fvR5tC-fvR9Zj-fvAB14-fvR48W-fvAL8Z-fvR1ML-fvRjgb-fvRfS1-fvB3SH">Policy Exchange</a></strong> on Flickr</i>)</div>
