LONDON (Arab News) – The grieving families of British “Daesh brides” were treated as suspects and criminals by police, The Observer has reported.
Several family members of girls and young women who had traveled to join Daesh terrorist group described being “treated as criminals” and used as sources of intelligence by the authorities.
One individual said that their home was raided and searched after they informed police of their daughter’s decision to join Daesh in Syria.
The revelations came during a parliamentary session last week. The media were prohibited from reporting on the session due to harassment concerns, but separately, four of the families later gave accounts of their experiences to The Observer.
They warned that their daughters have been “left stranded” in Syrian refugee camps run by U.S.-backed Kurdish militants in the north.
One woman said that her sister had traveled to Syria. However, after she had informed and cooperated with police, she learned that officers were uninterested in locating her sibling.
“We thought the police were there to help us. Over time, we could see the police and the authorities weren’t talking to us to help us, but only to get information. Once they had their information, they washed their hands of us,” she said.
“We were never offered any support. I felt I had to prove I was anti-extremist to them. I felt I was always under suspicion.”
Another person said: “I was interrogated as if I was a suspect, and once they had decided I wasn’t, they didn’t really want anything to do with me. It became really difficult to get in touch with them.”
Many of the families warned that the UK government had abandoned the presumption of innocence when it came to their children.
One said, “Normally, it is Western governments that talk about human rights and trafficking. However, when it is my family who have been abused and trafficked, they have decided not even to investigate their cases. They are considered guilty just for being in Syria.
“Women and children are being punished without a trial. I don’t know why Britain has decided to abandon its principles in my family’s case.”