Parents of radicalised teenagers to have power to cancel children’s passports to stop them joining ISIS

London : Parents of radicalised teenagers will have to cancel their children’s passports to stop them travelling to join ISIS, David Cameron said today as he set out how Britain will face down the Islamist terror threat.In a major speech on tackling extremism, Mr Cameron warned the police, schools, universities, mosques, social media websites, broadcasters, prisons and parents all had to do more to defeat the ‘poison’ infecting young minds.
In a direct appeal to disaffected young Muslims, the Prime Minister suggested ‘racism, discrimination or sickening Islamophobia’ was in part to blame for some of them being lured into extremism.Likening the rise of ISIS to the battle against Nazism, Communism and the IRA, Mr Cameron said that Britain had to deal with the ‘identity crisis’ that some young people feel.He also blamed racial and religious segregation in some towns and cities for ‘forcing people apart’. At least 700 people from the UK have travelled to Iraq or Syria to join ISIS – also known as Islamic State, ISIL and Daesh.
Mr Cameron said that many of them have found a ‘sense of belonging that they can lack here at home’.
Speaking at Ninestiles School in Birmingham, Mr Cameron said families and communities had to do more, ‘The local environment, their families, their peers, their communities, are among the key influencers in any young person’s life.‘So if they hear parts of the extremist worldview in their home, or their wider community, it will help legitimise it in their minds. Government will help where it can.
‘I know how worried some people are that their children might turn to this ideology – and even seek to travel to Syria or Iraq.
‘So I can announce today we are going to introduce a new scheme to enable parents to apply directly to get their child’s passport cancelled to prevent travel. Together, in partnership, let’s protect our young people.’
However, the plan will raise questions about whether parents who fail to cancel passports will fall foul of the law if their children travel to Iraq or Syria.
In a sign of his irritation at the reaction to news that British youngsters have joined ISIS, Mr Cameron added: ‘Ask yourself, how is it possible that when young teenagers leave their London homes to fight for ISIL, the debate focuses on whether the security services are to blame?’