I do think some things are getting overlooked in all this. In that she was nowt more than a 15 year old kid, at the time of her disappearance it was claimed in media sources via the police that no radicalisation had taken place, well i call that absolute bolloxs and i think the authorities of this country have ducked their responsibilities. The school Bethnal Green Academy, even changed it's name, why?
Three girls from that Academy went to Syria, at least four to five other girls were made wards of court. A girl the previous year had also gone to Syria, so that's at least nine kids.
We failed them! We either turned a blind eye to what was going on, maybe through fear of offending people or we are just utterly naive. Yeah we know the reasons she wants to return, we are a safe haven, the very haven she deserted. But she has grown in to a woman, one that has lost two children, the fact remains she is British, she has had an innocent new born in all this.
I'm not saying she hasn't done wrong, I'm not saying she shouldn't be answerable for any actions in the past four years, but maybe we need to take a closer look at ourselves and how the system in the country failed not just one child but many. We left her open to sexual exploitation, we left her open to things that a 15 year old should never experience or see.
I'm no supporter of this young girl, but we need to face up to our own responsibilities in all this and learn from it. And maybe start by tearing places like BGA until we find the answers.
They were 15 FFS!
