UK: 834 Muslims under age of 18 identified as vulnerable to Islamic State recruitment: As long as the British

UK: 834 Muslims under age of 18 identified as vulnerable to Islamic State recruitment

“Terror ALERT: Three-year-old child is targeted as ISIS eyes hundreds of British children,” by Nick Gutteridge, Express, July 28, 2015:

The youngster was picked up by a counter-terrorism programme set up to identify British people vulnerable to radicalisation by islamists.

The Channel counter-extremism programme has identified 834 such Britons under the age of 18 in the last two years alone.

The figures will fuel fears about the growing number of young people being radicalised by hate preachers who spread their vile message over the internet.

It is thought that close to 1,000 Britons have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight for Isis, with more than half of those later returning to the streets of Britain where they could carry out terrorist atrocities.

Ministers have vowed to challenge the “twisted narrative that has corrupted some of our vulnerable young people”, whilst David Cameron has said that Britain must “de-glamourise groups like ISIS by making young people aware of the brutal reality of life in the parts of Iraq and Syria they control”.
The Channel programme was set up as part of the fightback against islamist extremists following the 7/7 bombings in 2005.

Children drawing bombs and guns or writing about wanting to be a suicide bomber at school are amongst examples of youngsters who have been referred to the initiative.
About one in ten of the 834 children referred to the programme between April 2012 and June 2014 were under 12.

Amongst them was a three-year-old from Tower Hamlets, who was referred as “part of a wider family group” that had been displaying alarming behaviour.

Security Minister John Hayes said: “As a country, we have a duty to challenge, at every turn, the twisted narrative that has corrupted some of our vulnerable young people.

“Since Channel was rolled out nationally in April 2012, there have been over 4,000 referrals and hundreds of people at risk of being drawn into violent extremism have been provided with support.
“Referrals to Channel have increased since 2014 but we have dedicated sufficient resources to the programme to cope with demand. We will keep this position under close review.”

The number of young people being identified will continue to rise, experts have warned, fuelled by an explosion of online Isis propaganda and the sight of British fighters taking part in the conflict in Syria.

A new statutory duty on public bodies, such as schools, hospitals and councils, to prevent people being drawn into extremism is also thought to have contributed to the surge in referrals….