Big Ben and London Eye across the Thames River, London
Source: Telegraph
Lure of Syria and Isil blamed for sharp increase in children referred to Channel counter-radicalisation programme
The number of children and teenagers being referred to counter-radicalisation schemes is to double in just two years because of the growing lure of Syria and Isil.
Youngsters are being reported to the Channel Project at a rate of more than one a day amid fears many are at risk of becoming jihadists.
In one case a child as young as three was referred to the scheme while others have included schoolchildren who have drawn pictures of bombs or made Islamist threats.
The figures come as Channel faces a review over its effectiveness after it emerged Britain’s youngest terrorist had been on the scheme but it failed to stop him plotting a major outrage.
The 15-year-old, from Blackburn, last week admitted directing a plan to attack the Anzac Day parade in Melbourne from his bedroom in Lancashire.
The Channel Project was set up following the 7/7 attacks in 2005 and aims to identify people vulnerable to extremism who are then referred to the appropriate agencies to address their behaviour and keep them away from danger.
• Schoolboy obsessed with drawing bomb picture reported to anti-terror scheme
Figures show a total of 290 children under the age of 18 were referred to the scheme in 2012/13 but that had increased by more than half to 423 in 2013/14.
In the first three months after April last year, some 121 children were referred, which would mean a near doubling in two years if the same pattern continued.
The increase coincides with the civil war in Syria attracting lots of young British Muslims to join jihadist groups and the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
Among those referred to Channel over the period were 84 children aged under 12.
The Daily Telegraph disclosed in 2013 that a child as young as three had been placed on the scheme as part of an entire family referral.
Hannah Stuart, research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think-tank, said: “Channel referrals have continued to rise since the programme was introduced nationally.
Additional Reading
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