Muslims slam UK’s “religious profiling” plan

British Muslim leaders warned the government to think very carefully following reports that UK officials are considering a system of passenger-profiling which could be used to single out Muslims for security checks, the Guardian Unlimited reported.

British media reported that the government is discussing with airport authorities a system of profiling, where security staff single out people they regard as suspicious on ethnic or religious grounds.

If deployed, this system would anger British Muslims, though aviation experts claim that profiling could help them secure airports after police said last week it foiled an alleged terror plot to bomb U.S.-bound planes.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the UK’s largest Islamic organization, warned that the procedure, which also includes “behavioral pattern recognition”, would inevitably lead to discrimination.

MCB’s spokesman, Inayat Bunglawala, said that the British government could alienate the “community whose help it needs in combating the terrorist threat".

"Before some kind of religious profiling is introduced, a case has to be made; and we are certainly not convinced by the arguments for this kind of profiling. First of all, Muslims are not an ethnicity, as was shown by the arrests in last week's raids; there are many white converts to Islam,” he said.

Moreover, many Muslims already feel “unfairly targeted” because of their appearance, Bunglawala said, adding that some form of profiling was already in effect.

"This kind of thing must be intelligence-led, not appearance-led ... I hope the government has thought very carefully about this,” he stressed.

Many of Britain's 1.7 million Muslims have complained of being unfairly targeted by the police after last years’ bomb attacks on London’s transport systems.

Since 2000, UK police have detained more than 700 people, many of them Muslims, under the government’s tough anti-terrorism laws. Only a few of those arrested were tried, while the vast majority have been released without charge.

MCB General-Secretary Muhammad Abdul Bari also criticized the passenger-profiling system. "If you treat a community as a problem community, you are not going to get support from them."

Asked about the consequences of applying a passenger-profiling system, Bari told Sky News: "It could end up in racism unfortunately."

"If the profiling is done on the basis of race and religion, it will be wrong, it is not going to work,” he said.

These comments were echoed by one of Britain’s most senior Muslim police officers.

”What you are suggesting is that we should have a new offence in this country called 'traveling whilst Asian',” said Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Ali Desai, one of Britain's top Muslim police officers.

"That's unpalatable to everyone ... What we don't want to do is actually alienate the very communities who are going to help us catch terrorists,” he added.

AlJazeera