British Muslims whose families have lived in the UK for generations 'more likely to become radicalised than recent migrants'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2768926/British-Muslims-families-lived-UK-generations-likely-radicalised-recent-migrants.html
- Financial comfort and social isolation two key markers of potential recruits
- New immigrants were far less likely to support acts of terror, finds study
- Thinktank warns against the profiling of groups more prone to radicalisation
British Muslims most at risk of radicalisation are those whose families have the strongest links to the UK, new research claims.
A
University of London study found being financially comfortable but
suffering from mild depression and being socially isolated were also
factors which linked those sympathetic to terrorism.
Recent
immigrants, on the other hand, were far less likely to support violent
protest, even if they felt unwelcome in their adopted communities.
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Home grown terrorist: An Islamist
fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain, speaks in
video calling on Muslims to join the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq
and Syria.
Radical Muslim Cleric Anjem Choudray
leading a group of protesters outside the Syrian Embassy in London last
year. New research has found radical Muslims are more likely to have
stronger links to the UK
It
comes as hysteria mounts in the UK over the number of homegrown
Islamist hardliners who are believed to have travelled to Syria and Iraq
to fight with the Islamic State insurgency.
There
was shock in the country when the videos purporting to show the
execution of Western hostages held by the group featured a masked man
who spoke with a London accent, as well as a recruitment video featuring
three other young British men.
Questions
have been raised as to why men and women born and raised in Britain
feel inspired leave the country and fight for a cause with values alien
to those held dear in Britain.
More
than 600 British Muslim men and women of Pakistani or Bangladeshi
origin, aged 18 to 45, were asked 16 questions about their sympathies
for violent protest and terrorism.
Researchers
analysed their responses to sort them into three groups: most
sympathetic (or most vulnerable), most condemning (most resistant), and a
large intermediary group that acted as a reference.
Their findings, published in the online open-access journal PLOS One,
showed those most sympathetic towards terrorism were likely to report
symptoms of depression and to report religion as 'very important' rather
than 'fairly important'. They were also less likely to be of
Bangladeshi origin.
'Contrary
to popular views about radicalisation, unemployment, educational
achievements, discrimination, and stressful life events did not show
associations with sympathies towards violent protest and terrorism,' the
researchers wrote.
Those
most likely to condemn terrorism were more likely to include migrants
born outside of the UK, as well as people unavailable for work (mostly
stay-at-home mothers). They also reported a greater number of social
contacts and were less likely to be unemployed.
They were also more likely to report symptoms of depression than the reference group.
Curiously
they reported low levels of social capital, as measured by satisfaction
with the area were they lived, trust in their neighbours and feelings
of safety.
'A
low score, therefore, reflected fears associated with the
neighbourhood, including violence in the community,' the researchers
wrote.
Omar Khyam,
left, the son of a wealthy businessman from Crawley, West Sussex, was
arrested in March 2004 in the 'final stages' of preparing an attack.
Irfan Naseer, right, a pharmacy graduate whose parents moved to Britain
from the the Punjab, was jailed after plotting to unleash a deadly
terror attack on London's tubes
Kamaldeep Bhui, lead author of the study and professor of cultural anthropology at Queen Mary, University of London told The Independent:
'Migrant groups are much stronger in condemning terrorism. I think the
most compelling argument for this is that recent migrants are dealing
with a hard struggle and they've invested in coming here.
'They've
got adversity to deal with and are not in a position where they can
indulge some of the ideas of grievance; whereas people born or brought
up here probably take for granted the security and safety where they
live and the education and support.'
But
Quilliam, the counter-extremism thinktank, counselled caution over the
findings. Dr Erin Marie Saltman, a senior researcher for the group, said
such findings could lead to unhelpful policies which target 'minority
age-specific groups.'
'That becomes very dangerous,' she said.
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