Muslim Gangs Taking over British Prisons
The British government’s apparent inability to deal with the problems posed by Islamic extremism is being highlighted once again, this time by the news that Muslim gangs are threatening to take control of a high-security jail whose inmates include al-Qaeda-linked terrorists.
Staff at Whitemoor prison in Cambridgeshire are warning that several wings have become dominated by gangs of Muslim prisoners, and that a “serious incident” is imminent. Between a quarter and one-third of the jail’s 500 or so inmates are Muslim, and while most are serving sentences for offenses unrelated to terrorism, they’re held alongside extremists like Saajid Badat, who’s serving 13 years for plotting with Richard Reid to blow up transatlantic airliners with shoe bombs.
A report by Prison Service officials identifies an “ongoing theme of fear and instability” among staff at Whitemoor, and says the large number of Muslim inmates appears to be “engendering fear and handing control to the prisoners.” The Observer story linked above adds that white prisoners arriving at the jail are routinely warned about the Muslim gangs by staff.
While some of the blame for the situation is put down to poor training of prison officers, low morale, and lack of “cultural sensitivity,” the Prison Service report adds that staff at the jail “appeared reluctant to challenge inappropriate behavior, in particular among BME (black and ethnic minority) prisoners for fear of doing the wrong thing,” which was leading to the “power dynamic” shifting towards inmates.
And, all too predictably, the government’s response to the situation at Whitemoor reads like a satire on officialdom hobbled by the demands of multiculturalism and political correctness:
“It is vital that prison staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills to ensure they have the confidence to identify and challenge behavior that is of concern,” said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice. “A program of work is planned at Whitemoor to increase mutual understanding between staff and prisoners, including a development day for staff on the Muslim faith, focus groups in which staff and ethnic minority prisoners will discuss prison community issues, and diversity events.”
Faced with the threat of violence from gangs — Muslim or otherwise — prison officers at Whitemoor would probably prefer Tasers and pepper spray to development days, focus groups, and diversity events, but the official response is entirely in keeping with the muddled thinking that pervades Gordon Brown’s government when it comes to dealing with Islamic extremism. Ministers appear torn between trying to reassure the public that they’re being tough on terror on the one hand, and avoiding causing offense to “moderate” Muslims on the other — notwithstanding the fact that genuinely moderate Muslims shouldn’t be offended by reasonable measures taken to protect British citizens from terror attacks.
The tensions at Whitemoor appear to be more extreme versions of those that stem from the inability — or refusal — of many Muslims to fully integrate into British society: a sense of victimhood, often paradoxically combined with notions of superiority, along with demands for special treatment and exemption from certain rules.
In the case of Whitemoor, it appears that officials are reluctant to confront the gangs. The safety of inmates and staff is obviously a pressing concern, and if cutting Muslim inmates a little slack prevents an outbreak of violence then it’s obviously tempting for the authorities to take the line of least resistance — as was the case a couple of years ago when guards in one English jail were banned from wearing tie-pins featuring the cross of St. George for fear of offending Muslim inmates.
But the problem goes beyond the immediate threat to security at Whitemoor and other jails — radicalization of Muslim prisoners is also a serious concern. The UK’s prison system has become a recruiting ground for al-Qaeda sympathizers in recent years, and fears over radicalization have led to prisoners being moved from jails that have experienced similar problems to those identified at Whitemoor. If a failure to confront the extremists gives them a free hand to radicalize fellow inmates and plot terror attacks, the consequences could be disastrous.
The authorities would do well to get a grip on the problem while they still have a chance. The number of Muslims in Britain’s jails has soared over the past few years, due in part to terrorism, but mostly because of disproportionate levels of “ordinary” crime committed by both illegal immigrants and young British Muslims. In 2006 there were more than 8,000 Muslims in British jails — 11% of the total prison population, with the figure having risen fourfold since 1993. Just over half that number, 6%, were British nationals, which is roughly double the percentage of Muslims in the population as a whole; the rest were foreign nationals. One in four was serving time for drug offenses.
The threat of radicalization isn’t confined to British jails. Muslims are heavily over-represented in the prison populations of most European countries, with the disparity being most spectacular in France, where between 60% and 70% of prisoners are estimated to be Muslims, despite Muslims making up only about 12% of the population. Prison authorities in the country are working to place moderate imams in prisons to counter the influence of extremists.
In the U.S., estimates for the numbers of Muslim prisoners vary considerably — in testimony before a Senate security sub-committee in 2003, Professor J. Michael Waller put the figure as high as 17-20% of the prison population, or roughly 350,000 inmates. Whatever the exact number, the vast majority are African-Americans who have converted to Islam in prison, rather than Arab or Asian Muslims, and gang-related activity is viewed as a greater danger than terrorism.
Nevertheless, authorities are still alert to the threat of radicalization, and a 2006 report produced by Homeland Security officials draws extensively on Europe’s experience. Its authors warn that “every radicalized prisoner becomes a potential terrorist recruit,” and call for action to address the problem “before it materializes as a terrorist attack.” The British government needs to demonstrate a similar awareness of the threat, and a similar sense of urgency in tackling it.
Lovely. Sounds like Government sponsored radicalization training to me. Congratulations UK. You’ve succeeded where Al-Qaida is failing, and where Iran succeeded totally in 1979.
Kiss your history and your lily white asses goodbye as the new Ottomans run roughshod over you, and your paddy-cake way of dealing with radicals.
Nothing that making prisoners grow their own food, make their own clothes, and build their own housing wouldn’t cure. Segregate out the nonviolent criminals, and further segregate the radical thugs from the ordinary thugs. Limit the function of staff to containing this cancer. Waste no effort at accomodation or rehabilitation. Keep staff and prisoners completely separate in the high security prisons, strip search then shackle the thugs in a sally port when they seek medical care, and have no further contact between the civilized and savage. Otherwise, let anarchy reign among prisoners, and let them make their own law within the prison. The inmates will be too busy trying to meet their basic survival needs to spend much time developing their radical and terrorist agenda.
Brutal? Yes, but I would rather have them prey on themselves for the likely short period of time it would take for them to get real when faced with concrete, day-to-day choices between producing what they need to survive and dying of starvation or exposure than have them prey on and recruit lesser criminals.
Europeans need incentive to have more childrem.
Stop Importing your problems!
I hope I can afford the time and money to take my kids to the UK before it’s totally ruined itself. The more I read about the UK (and Europe in general) in terms of its inability/unwillingness to deal with radical Islam, the more I fear that part of the world as the launch pad for future attacks on the U.S., not the middle east. I hope NATO has some contingency plans in place.
I’m glad my ancesters had enough sense to come to America three hundred years ago,and declare their independence from England.
The UK’s moral ambiguity and rampant political correctness will be the end of that nation. Better grow some balls…fast.
Sink the island and start over.
Since when do prisoners, muslim or otherwise, get to make the rules and call the shots? Has Great Britain lost its mind? To allow a muslim in a foreign country to tell that country they can’t practice their own religion by wearing their religious symbols is abhorrant and should not be tolerated for any reason. Great Britain….Wake UP!!!
Shear cowardice combined with white liberal guilt will allow European civilization, home of enlightened reason, to be conquered by murderous barbarians. Europeans are a disgusting lot. They will actually protect the “right” of Muslims to behead European children. The Brits and all Europeans are truely beneath contempt. What sane man worries about the comfort of those plotting to murder his children. My God, how I DO DESPISE THEM ALL.
As the kinks wrote theres no england any more and more importantly no one with a big enough army to fight the bureaucracy. Time for Charles the First to declare war me thinks.
Will Becker:
‘I’m glad my ancesters had enough sense to come to America three hundred years ago,and declare their independence from England.’
I’m glad they travelled too – it enriched our gene pool the moment your feckless chromosomes waded off to the Americas.
God bless America! Home of the idiot!
As a European and British citizen who’s less proud of the latter distinction, my point is not driven by any kind of patriotism. But the moment an American tells me that I need “balls” to improve my lot – implying that the possession of testicles will somehow make me better than someone without these mighty spheres between their legs – I know I am entitled to tune out. Americans without passports are almost as dangerous to the rest of the world as those on troop planes.
@ Mike: I am an American and I say that you are crazy. Do you really think our own Left are any better? So you have any idea the sort of crazy things we have been doing, and longer, in the name of PC? We have a somewhat stronger opposition to them but only marginally so. Our only real advantage is the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Otherwise we would be having the same type of immigrants and the same sort of problems associated with them.
Also, as an American, I would like to express both my support and admiration for Europe. We Americans have gotten a little irked with the press we get and want people to look at a better side of ourselves. We are quickly forgetting the rest of the world needs more of that as well. Though I love being an American, I have a deep and abiding respect for all of Europe and pray that most Europeans truly appreciate who and what they are.
It all makes sense. Islam is basically a criminal organization. Certainly they would know how to run a prison. Consider just one aspect of Islam-like the Mafia-they’ll kill you if you leave it.
When are people going to be held accountable for their jobs. There is no reason at all that this type of behavior is being tolorated by the Prison Administration. Gangs, no matter why name, type or religion can be controlled. There are methods to deal with these types of individuals no matter what gang affiliation they are from. It is time that the security of these prisons be taken seriously, utilizing all resources to take control. The Prison Administration and their staff run the Prison, not any gangs.
I am sick and tired of the excuses. Let the Prison Managers and security experts deal with this issue and get it under control using all means and of course without violating the inmates rights. So much can be done just by following the procedures, enhancing security, implementing tracking systems of gang members and monitoring their activitites. Give the prison staff the tools they need to take control because the staff should be running the prisons, not the inmates or gangs. Unless you have worked in a prison or jail, you dont really know how hard and stressful it is. Support your prison staff.
acol37, Your biggest mistake was to take my statement about having “balls” literally. It’s called a “metaphor”, look it up in the dictionary. And yes, the UK still needs to grow a pair to deal with this emerging threat, just as the USA does, too.
best of letting them eat or shag each other to death, f*cking animals.
When are we going to appreciate that this country doesnt mix with radical islamist fundementals and its seen as a security threat. Why are we allowing our tax payers to pay for their privelidge of spending their leisure in HMP at our expense and form / rejuvenate and grow undr our premise.
If we go back to where their beliefs start and reside in a country that gives a fk about their beliefs. Were fed up with our apathetic and spineless government comittees pussyfutting around. If we were in a muslim state and causing a reverse religuous affair wed be eradicaed by now so cme on its time to re train these idiots to the way of our crown. Failure to fulfill should mean deportation or worse.
deport them
All the security guards in the British prison system need to get together and watch the movie “300″ and pretend they are empowered with the strength of the SPARTANS!