The British authorities seem more concerned with keeping the peace between Hizb ut-Tahrir and the “extreme right”. It’s okay; I hope they are successful. Meanwhile, they don’t seem at all concerned about the long-term consequences of the spread of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s ideas.
“Hotel asylum seekers ‘could be recruited by extremist groups,’” by Neil Johnston, Telegraph, 11 December 2022:
Radical groups could attack hotels housing asylum seekers in an attempt to recruit people, anti-extremism officials fear.
Officials in the Midlands city of Stoke-on-Trent are increasingly concerned about the resurgence of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group that promotes the creation of an Islamic state. It is banned in more than a dozen countries, but not in the UK.
The group has been holding sessions in a converted warehouse just steps from two hotels housing asylum seekers, and sources said they feared the proximity would give people with extreme but not illegal views “easy access” to vulnerable migrants.
It is understood that in meetings with police and councilors who work in Prevent, the government’s anti-terrorism strategy, the group’s activities [sic] concerns were discussed and raised as to whether asylum seekers could be exploited.
“There have been reported discussions with the Prevent teams on the matter,” a source said. “There is a fear when they are operating so close that they have easy access and vice versa. We want to avoid the risk of a powder keg between extremists and the extreme right, which are also operating in the city.”
Farak Mohammed, the organizer of the events, also runs a gym and martial arts center a few hundred meters from one of the hotels, whose name The Telegraph prefers not to mention.
Mohammed urged those who disagreed with the group’s views to “come down and talk to us,” adding: “We will sit down and explain our views. Hizb ut-Tahrir is not an extremist organization.”
The group’s purpose is to restore the caliphate in the Middle East with Sharia law, and experts have claimed it is a gateway to violent extremism. It is rejected by most Muslims and has been banned in Germany, China, Russia and many Arab states….
Jonathan Gullis, MP for Stoke North, said: “I have previously engaged with the Home Office and council regarding extremism in far-right and Islamic extremist groups, and that is causing major public safety concerns.
“This city already has 800 migrants and the hotels will bring the number to more than 1,000. That is a large number of vulnerable people poised to be taken advantage of by extremists like Hizb ut-Tahrir, county line gang criminality and a target for the far right.”…