LONDON: The British government’s anti-extremism program Prevent is under fire after it was revealed that a Muslim boy aged 4 was flagged by his after-school club for talking about the video game “Fortnite.”
UK newspaper The Observer newspaper reported on Sunday that the boy was referred to the program in September 2019 after saying his father had “guns and bombs in his shed.”
Following the child’s referral to Prevent, it was quickly established that he was with his father the night before he made his comments.
His cousin was playing the video game “Fortnite,” which has more than 350 million registered players and involves characters collecting guns and bombs.
After making the comment, he told a worker at the care club about his cousin playing the game.
His mother, in the first anonymous interview of a parent of a child aged 6 or under referred to Prevent, said: “The office sent me all the information, including the transcript of that conversation. It’s quite clear he mentioned Fortnite.”
She added: “He’s just a little boy with an imagination. The teachers should know in this setting that (children) have imagination. They know exactly what kids are like, and what young boys are like. I do think that if it was a white boy, they wouldn’t have actually gone to that extreme of referring him to the Prevent scheme.”
She told The Observer about her distress after the police visited the family home at 10:30 p.m. to discuss her son’s case.
“It could have gone really wrong. I worry armed police could have come to my house and … arrested the parents, with social services getting involved,” she said.
The mother added that the police officer who visited the family home appeared uneasy, as though he did not think the visit was necessary, but explained he had to “follow the Prevent flowchart.”
She said: “He was in the same place as me really. You know: ‘Why have they done this?’ He said if they had any major concerns, they wouldn’t have sent him by himself.”
Figures obtained in a freedom-of-information request have revealed that 624 children under 6 were referred to Prevent between 2016 and 2019. During the same period, 1,405 children between 6 and 9 were referred to the scheme.
Layla Aitlhadj, director at the community outreach project Prevent Watch, said: “It’s difficult to fully appreciate the impact this experience can have on a family.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Where someone is concerned a child may have been deliberately exposed to harmful terrorist narratives, it is right that they refer them to the necessary authorities. Prevent is first and foremost about safeguarding, and through this referral, the child will be able to receive the vital support they need.”
Muslim boy, 4, referred to UK anti-extremism program over video game comment
https://arab.news/rn68n
Muslim boy, 4, referred to UK anti-extremism program over video game comment
- Mother: I do think that if it was a white boy, they wouldn’t have actually gone to that extreme of referring him
- She added that the police officer who visited the family home appeared uneasy, as though he did not think the visit was necessary
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa freed after 8 months in prison
- Guanipa is one of the closest allies of opposition powerhouse María Corina Machado
- Venezuelan government faces mounting pressure to free hundreds of people detained over political beliefs
CARACAS: Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa on Sunday was released after more than eight months in prison for what are widely considered to be politically motivated accusations.
Guanipa, one of the closest allies of opposition powerhouse María Corina Machado, had been held at a detention facility in the capital, Caracas. His release comes as the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez faces mounting pressure to free hundreds of people whose detentions months or years ago have been linked to their political beliefs.
“Today, we are being released,” Guanipa, standing with an armored vehicle and officers behind him, said in a video posted on X. “Much to discuss about the present and future of Venezuela, always with the truth at the forefront.”
Venezuelan-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal confirmed the release of at least 18 people on Sunday.
In addition to Guanipa, Machado’s political organization said some of its local political organizers as well as her attorney, Perkins Rocha, were among those freed.
“Let’s go for the freedom of Venezuela!” she posted on X.
Guanipa was detained in late May and accused by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello of participating in an alleged “terrorist group” plotting to boycott that month’s legislative election. Guanipa’s brother Tomás rejected the accusation, and said that the arrest was meant to crack down on dissent.
“Thinking differently cannot be criminalized in Venezuela, and today, Juan Pablo Guanipa is a prisoner of conscience of this regime,” Tomás Guanipa said after the arrest. “He has the right to think as he thinks, the right to defend his ideas, and the right to be treated under a constitution that is not being enforced today.”
Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s acting president after the capture in Caracas of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the US military last month.
Her government announced on Jan. 8 it would free a significant number of prisoners — a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States — but families and rights watchdogs have criticized authorities for the slow pace of the releases.
The ruling party-controlled National Assembly this week began debating an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners. The opposition and nongovernmental organizations have reacted with cautious optimism as well as with suggestions and demands for more information on the contents of the proposal.
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez on Friday posted a video on Instagram showing him outside a detention center in Caracas and saying that “everyone” would be released no later than next week, once the amnesty bill is approved.
