UK police recruit Syrian refugee moms

The British police have recruited Syrian refugee mothers as the face of a new campaign to prevent young girls and women in the UK fleeing to join the ISIS terror group, as figures released on Tuesday showed a spike in the number of them travelling to the war-torn country.

A short film featuring three Syrian refugee mothers speaks directly to mothers in the UK about the realities of life in Syria, saying that their daughters might never be able to return home.

It is released to coincide with latest figures which show that 56 women and girls were reported missing to the British police by their families in 2015, all feared to have travelled to Syria.

Deputy assistant commissioner Helen Ball, senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, said: “We are deeply concerned about the numbers of girls, young women and also families who are taking the decision to go to Syria, unaware of the dangers they face when they arrive and the fact that they are unlikely to ever be able to return home to their devastated wider families.”

“The personal accounts of the women in this film highlight the harsh reality of life for women and children living in a war-torn country. I hope they will go some way to helping young women and mothers stop and think about the huge mistake they would be making if they travel.”

The importance of the role of mothers in deterring other family members from travelling is also highlighted in the full findings of an online survey released on Tuesday.

The “national online survey” was carried out between March and April 2015 by National Counter-Terrorism Policing.

It showed that two-thirds of of people aged between 11 and 25, who were asked which family member they were most likely to talk to, said they would speak to their mother if they were worried about someone they knew being radicalised or considering travelling to a conflict zone abroad.

The film was developed with the charity Families Against Stress and Trauma.