Muslim youths to advise ministers

[Uthman]

By Dominic Casciani
BBC News home affairs reporter

A group of young British Muslims are being named as advisers to ministers as part of a drive against extremism.

Young British Muslims will be advising government ministers

The move comes as part of fresh plans to prevent radicalisation and address community concerns.

The 22 Muslims aged 16-25 will hold regular meetings with key ministers and civil servants.

Muslims called for a voice for youngsters in an official plan after the 2005 London suicide bombings which killed 52 people.

The advisory group comes as the government is rethinking how to prevent violent extremism, a key element of counter-terrorism strategy.

Officials have acknowledged more work needs to be done to reach out into Muslim communities.

The youth advisers are similar to another initiative which has seen Muslim women directly advise ministers.

In contrast, the largest Muslim umbrella body in the UK remains on the sidelines amid continuing rows with government.

Ensuring young Muslims have access to constructive, democratic channels for dealing with concerns and frustrations is crucial to our efforts to build strong, resilient communities

Hazel Blears, Communities Secretary

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Schools Secretary Ed Balls are unveiling 22 youth advisers who officials say have been drawn from a wide range of ethnic and social backgrounds.

They will be asked to give direct views to ministers on key issues including extremism, discrimination, citizenship and how they see Islam fitting into British society.

In turn, officials hope they will take the dialogue with government back into communities. The 22 have been partly chosen because of their track-records of community action and volunteering.

Varied backgrounds

One of the advisers, 18-year-old medical student Aziza Al Yassin, said: "I hope to highlight the forgotten achievements of the Muslim community in Britain, as well as the areas where improvement is needed, not only with regards to tackling violence and extremism, but also in helping develop our mosques, education and interaction with the wider community.

"Being a part of the link which is helping to address the lack of communication between Muslims and the government, I can appreciate my role in identifying the issues which affect the British Muslim community most, and how these can best be dealt with."

More than 150 young people applied for positions on the group, with the final number chosen after a weekend of workshops and debates.

The advisers include students, undergraduates and a trainee lawyer.

Ministers are understood to be prepared to have frank conversations with the advisors over foreign policy and other issues playing a role in terrorism recruitment.

But it is unclear if the final group includes anyone who holds political views which would be unpalatable for government.

'Vital role'

Critics of the strategy on preventing extremism believe officials have wasted time since 2005 talking to people with no influence over those most likely to be radicalised.

Ms Blears said: "There are over 800,000 Muslims under the age of 25 living in the UK but we don't hear enough from them.

"Ensuring young Muslims have access to constructive, democratic channels for dealing with concerns and frustrations is crucial to our efforts to build strong, resilient communities.

"Young Muslims have a vital role to play in challenging prejudice and preconceptions both within their community and in wider society and I want to hear directly from these young people on a wide range of issues."

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[Uthman]

:bump:

['Abd al-Baari]

:sl:

I think that's great! Hope that it brings some positive changes, insha'Allah.

:w:

[nocturnal]

It's a dangerous move, and it just might polarize the Muslim community if we're not careful. You have to remember this is the very same government that took us to war against two sovereign Muslim states and totally extirpated them. This government is not soliciting advice from this newly established council. It is simply there as a political stunt to pacify the Muslim community and launch an alternative front to Islamic integration in the UK.

Im not propagating extremism here, but i think this is a bit patronising on the part of the government. They already have myriad Muslim organizations that operate at grassroots level. What the Muslim community need more than anything is a forum on which to address their grievances, not a rostrum of carefully selected apparently "moderate" Muslim youth to share their dictums with us and not represent our views at all.

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[Uthman]

Baroness Warsi: Labour's Young Muslim Advisory Group is patronising and divisive

The creation of a group of young Muslims to advise ministers on extremism and discrimination has been condemned as divisive and patronising by a leading Muslim peer.

By Martin Beckfordm, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:50PM BST 07 Oct 2008

Baroness Warsi, the shadow minister for community cohesion, claimed the move was another example of Labour's discredited policy of state multiculturalism and would just drive communities in Britain further apart.

She pointed out that Muslims face the same issues as young people from other backgrounds, and said it is wrong to chose advisory groups purely on the basis of faith.

Lady Warsi, who last year helped secure the release of an English teacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her class to name a teddy bear Mohammed, spoke out after the Government named the 22 members of its first Young Muslim Advisory Group.

The 16 to 25-year-olds, who were chosen for their records of voluntary and community work, will have regular meetings with ministers to discuss issues such as terrorism, discrimination and how they believe Islam should fit into British society.

They will also plan a conference for 300 young Muslims and work on reducing teenage pregnancies and drug abuse among teenagers, as well as encouraging drop-outs to take up jobs or training.

Lady Warsi said: "This is another example of the Government engaging with the British Muslim communities on the basis purely of their faith. There are many issues that face young people: drugs, unemployment and housing, to name but a few.

"To select a group of 22 young people, however talented they may be, to advise the government on 'Muslim issues' is patronising and deeply concerning.

"When will the Government learn that the Muslim community is not a homogenous block, and the issues its young people face are predominantly the same issues that all young people in this country face, whatever their background, race, or religion?

"Actions such as this are a continuation of the Government's policy of state multiculturalism, which creates a more divided Britain."

The members of the group were announced by Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, and Ed Balls, the Children, Schools and Families Secretary, yesterday (tue), and will hold their first formal meeting with the two ministers in the next few weeks.

Miss Blears said: "Ensuring young Muslims have access to constructive, democratic channels for dealing with concerns and frustrations is crucial to our efforts to build strong, resilient communities.

"The contribution young people can make to finding solutions to issues in society often goes unrecognised and untapped."

It is believed young Muslims are particularly vulnerable to being drawn into extremism, and in the wake of the 7/7 bombings in London there were calls for Britain's Muslim youth to have an official voice.

According to latest figures, 70 per cent of Britain's 1.6 million population of Muslims is under the age of 35, with one in three under 16.

The Young Muslim Advisory Group, made up equally of men and women, includes three Oxford University graduates, several medical students, a teenager who is currently studying for seven A-levels and a solicitor who is also Cub Scout leader.

Source

[Sahabiyaat]

how is it dangerous?, im sure there not going to listen to anything that wont ultimatley benifit them or cause harm in the long run.