£117M to Protect UK Mosques and Muslim Schools From Hate Attacks
James Gregory, BBC, March 11, 2024
More than £117m will be spent to protect mosques, Muslim schools and community centres in the UK from hate attacks over the next four years, the government says.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said the investment would give “reassurance and confidence” to British Muslims.
It will be spent on measures including CCTV cameras, alarms and fencing.
The announcement comes in response to concerns the Israel-Hamas conflict is fuelling division in the UK.
Mr Cleverly said: “Anti-Muslim hatred has absolutely no place in our society. We will not let events in the Middle East be used as an excuse to justify abuse against British Muslims.
“The prime minister has made clear that we stand with Muslims in the UK.
“That is exactly why we have committed to this funding, giving reassurance and confidence to UK Muslims at a time when it is crucially needed.”
The funding, announced at the beginning of Ramadan, forms part of a package of support to provide reassurance that anti-Muslim abuse, threats or harassment or any form of hate crime will not be tolerated.
It follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement last month of a similar package for Jewish communities totalling £70m over the next four years.
The package to tackle anti-Muslim hate is larger than that given to the Community Security Trust to cover Jewish facilities because of the higher Muslim population and a larger number of sites to cover.
It follows the £29.4m already made available for 2023-24, which included £4.9m allocated in the wake of the war in Gaza.
The government has condemned recent reports of anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hate cases, which charities and police say have risen by record levels.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said the package demonstrated how the government was standing “firmly against hate crimes, abuse, threats or harassment against British Muslims”.
“We continue to work closely with policing and community partners to ensure the safety and security of British Muslims,” he added.
Israel’s military launched an air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’s attacks on Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 253 others were taken hostage.
More than 30,900 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry says.
