The school attended by three teenage girls who are believed to be heading to Syria had “no evidence” they were being radicalised or might abscond – despite another pupil leaving to join Islamic State in December.
Classmates of Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, have now returned to Bethnal Green Academy following half-term.
The trio disappeared last week – two months after a fellow pupil is thought to have left to join IS in Syria.
Prime Minister David Cameron said airlines and internet companies need to do more to prevent radicalised British teens reaching the Middle East to join the terrorist group.
Mr Cameron told MPs he was “horrified” over by the case of the three London girls and announced that Home Secretary Theresa May and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin will be talking with airlines on new “proportionate” arrangements to ensure that children who are at risk are properly identified and questioned.
He also said internet companies must live up to their “social responsibility” by taking down extremist content and improving co-operation with the authorities over contacts between extremists and young people.
Meanwhile, Bethnal Green Academy principal Mark Keary revealed that police had spoken to Shamima, Kadiza and Amira at the time and found “no evidence that the girls were at risk of being radicalised or absconding”.
Staff at the school were briefed by police upon their return to work, Mr Keary said, while all pupils have been offered agency support.
He added: “From the increasing number of similar news reports around the world, it is clear that this is an international issue which is increasing in severity and it’s affecting schools across the country and beyond.
“We are constantly reviewing our safeguarding procedures.”
Mr Keary said social media was “strictly regulated” at the school – with no access to Facebook or Twitter.
This follows the revelation that a tweet from an account under Shamima’s name was sent to Aqsa Mahmood, who left Glasgow for Syria to be a so-called jihadi bride in 2013.
Aamer Anwar, the lawyer representing Aqsa’s family, told Sky News that security authorities were not passing on intelligence which could allow families to prevent their children from travelling to Syria or Iraq.
These failings mean the UK is “exporting terror” abroad, he said.
This accusation came as six French citizens had their passports confiscated after allegedly planning to travel to Syria, according to a security source.
The right to remove passports was introduced there amid a raft of new counter-terrorism laws in November.
Meanwhile, officers from the Metropolitan Police have now arrived in Turkey as the search for the girls continues.
Relatives of the trio have made emotional pleas for them to come home .
The three girls were last seen on Tuesday morning as they left their homes, telling their families they would be out for the day.
They are thought to have boarded a Turkish Airlines flight at Gatwick, which landed in Istanbul on Tuesday evening, with the intention to cross into Syria and join IS.
The father of Amira, Abase Hussen, said his family was “completely different now”.
“We are depressed, and it’s very stressful,” he said. “The message we have for Amira is to get back home. We miss you. We cannot stop crying. Please think twice. Don’t go to Syria.”
Source Article from https://uk.news.yahoo.com/missing-schoolgirls-uk-police-arrive-turkey-051534014.html
School Had 'No Evidence' Girls Were At Risk
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