The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 introduced a statutory duty for public bodies, including universities and colleges, to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. But since then, only one student has been referred to the Channel Vulnerability Assessment Framework.
That’s according to a report from the think-tank The Henry Jackson Society, Spotting The Signs: Identifying Vulnerability To Radicalisation Among Students, investigates students who have travelled from the UK to join terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, between 2013 and 2016.
In other words, as the report puts it, identifying the signs of radicalisation (as described in the UK Government’s Channel Vulnerability Assessment Framework (2012) and Channel Duty Guidance (2015) has proven ‘difficult’.
The document looks at the cases of 29 students who travelled, or tried to travel, to work with extremist groups or fight for armed Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq. Through profiling and analysis, it aims to provide a ‘supportive tool to assist with understanding how indications of radicalisation, or vulnerability to radicalisation, manifest in real cases’. The report points to the significance of family relationships and friendships.
The perception that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for friends, family, neighbours and public sector staff to recognise the signs of radicalisation may be overstated, the report suggests. Nine out of 29 students had some connection with a mosque or an imam suggested as one driver of radicalisation, or had been involved with a mosque attended by other extremists, while six students attended schools attended by other extremists or which had been accused of having a problem with extremism. While as the report points out, the UK Government rightly recognises that expressions of faith in the absence of other indicators of vulnerability are not indicators of extremism, the appearance of behaviour associated with increasing religious observance was noticed in the cases of 14 out of the 29.
For the 94-page report in full visit http://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Student-Fighters-Project.pdf.
For an infographic visit the Henry Jackson Society website.
