David Cameron concerned over runaway girls
22 Feb 2015 11:13 PM GMT
British prime minister David Cameron has said the disappearance of three British Muslim schoolgirls feared to be travelling to Syria to join Islamic State (IS) terrorists is “deeply concerning”. Scotland Yard had issued an appeal to trace the east London schoolgirls Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and their unnamed 15-year-old friend who all flew from Gatwick airport to Turkey on Tuesday and are believed to be trying to cross over to Syria.
“It is deeply concerning and obviously our authorities will do everything we can to help these girls. But it does make a broader point which is the fight against Islamist extremist terror is not just one that we can wage by the police and border control. It needs every school, every university, every college, every community to recognise they have a role to play. We all have a role to play in stopping people from having their minds poisoned by this appalling death cult,” Cameron said.
The three girls are also friends with a fourth girl who had travelled to Syria in December 2014. The Metropolitan police said they had been spoken to that month as part of the police inquiry into the previous girl’s disappearance. In a statement, Met police said, “There was nothing to suggest at the time that the girls themselves were at ri sk and indeed their disappearance has come as a great surprise, not least to their own families”.
“It is deeply concerning and obviously our authorities will do everything we can to help these girls. But it does make a broader point which is the fight against Islamist extremist terror is not just one that we can wage by the police and border control. It needs every school, every university, every college, every community to recognise they have a role to play. We all have a role to play in stopping people from having their minds poisoned by this appalling death cult,” Cameron said.
The three girls are also friends with a fourth girl who had travelled to Syria in December 2014. The Metropolitan police said they had been spoken to that month as part of the police inquiry into the previous girl’s disappearance. In a statement, Met police said, “There was nothing to suggest at the time that the girls themselves were at ri sk and indeed their disappearance has come as a great surprise, not least to their own families”.
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