Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, has written to the Home Secretary to raise serious questions about how three teenage girls were able to travel to Syria.

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Theresa,

As you know we support the work of the police, security agencies and the Government to protect our national security, and we agree on the importance of preventing extremism and preventing young people being radicalised. Therefore I hope you can answer the following specific questions.

Another girl from Bethnal Green Academy had travelled to Syria in December. This was well known throughout the community, and was a topic of discussion in other schools.

It has been reported that the teenagers were talked to by the police following the other student travelling in December. We have known for some time from work undertaken by King’s College, London, that recruitment to travel was taking place through social media and friendship groups.

Therefore:

1. What action was taken through either Prevent or child protection procedures to reach other young people connected to the girl who had already left and assess whether any of them were also at risk?

2. What support was provided by the Home Office to Bethnal Green Academy in December?

3. Was any Prevent training provided by the Home Office or others to staff at Bethnal Green Academy before or after December 2014?

4. Was any Prevent advice provided to parents at Bethnal Green Academy before or after December 2014?

5. Did any Prevent training or advice include information about the specific risks for teenage girls?

6. Was Prevent advice provided to other Tower Hamlets schools last year following reports of young women travelling to Syria?

7. Has every school in Tower Hamlets been provided with support from the Prevent programme?

8. According to a Written Answer from the Department for Communities and Local Government, no integration funding has been allocated from DCLG to Tower Hamlets. What Prevent funding has been made available for community led projects in Tower Hamlets?

9. Did Tower Hamlets submit an evaluation of Prevent projects to the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT) in 2013/14?

One of the teenagers was in contact on Twitter with Aqsa Mahmood, who left her Glasgow home in November 2013 for Syria after becoming radicalised. This material was open-source.

I understand that there are limitations on what you are able to say publicly about covert and open source monitoring in individual cases. However please can you arrange for the Intelligence and Security Committee to be briefed on the following:

10. Were Asqua Mahmood’s open source communications monitored?

11. Was monitoring initiated of the open source social media communications from the young woman who had left?

12. What assessment did the Metropolitan Police and the Prevent programme make of the risks to the other pupils at Bethnal Green Academy - including the three girls who have left, and other pupils at the school?

13. Were the police and Security Service aware of the twitter contact between Asqua Mahmood and one of the girls who has left before they departed? Was a request made to Twitter for further information? Did Twitter assist?

14. The Prime Minister said in the House of Commons on 23rd February that “one of the girls was following as many as 70 extremists online”. Did the police or the Security Service know this was the case before the teenagers left for Syria?

As you will know there is considerable concern about how three girls under 16 were able to board a flight on a known route for travelling to Syria.

The Prime Minister rightly said he was concerned about the fact that it showed young people “can board a flight to Turkey without necessarily being asked any questions by the airline”.

We have known for many, many months that young people travelling to Syria – including young girls – is a growing problem. It’s why we have fully supported the Counter Terrorism Bill and the necessity of the temporary passport seizure power.

I welcome the fact that you and the Transport Secretary are doing further work with the airlines. However we had understood that work had already been done to disrupt routes to Syria, so it is alarming that these discussions did not take place earlier.

Can you therefore explain:

15. Were there any protocols in place with Turkish Airlines and other airlines for working with the authorities over cases of people who might be travelling on known routes to Syria?

16. Did any of those protocols include arrangements to notify the authorities about unaccompanied minors travelling on known routes to Syria?

17. Has anything been done in the last 12 months to discuss with Turkish Airlines what measures may be taken to protect young people?

18. What arrangements were in place for assessing Advance Passenger Information on known routes to Syria - including identifying high risk individuals or unaccompanied minors?

19. Does the Home Office have any plans to use advance passenger information from airlines for people leaving the UK to raise questions about young people, travelling alone to destinations like Istanbul – a known centre where Isil people smugglers operate?

It has been reported that the Turkish Government have complained about a delay in receiving contact from the UK authorities about the missing teenagers.

The teenagers flew to Istanbul on the 17th February. A Scotland Yard statement said: “Once we established that the girls had travelled to Turkey, police made contact with the foreign liaison officer at the Turkish Embassy in London on Wednesday, 18 February.”

20. Can you confirm when the Turkish authorities in Istanbul were alerted to the missing girls, rather than contact made with an embassy in London?

The Home Office has teams working on the ground in Turkey.

21. Have there been any discussions with the airlines about notifying the Home Office of solo, under-18 travellers arriving in Turkey, allowing UK officials on the ground to satisfy themselves they are safe on arrival?

I appreciate there are many questions to answer, but this challenge to both our country’s security and the safety of young people falling into the barbarism and hatred of Isil is of foremost concern to all of us.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP
Shadow Home Secretary