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Police appeal to muslim women over Syria

Police have appealed to muslim women to come forward if they have concerns over male relatives travelling to fight in Syria.

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Group hears mothers' concerns over Syria 'daily'

Sajda Mughal of the JAN Trust organisation said the group hears the concerns mothers have "daily" and understands the need to "protect your child".

Speaking after a campaign was launched to urge British Muslim women to their relatives against travelling to Syria, Ms Mughal said: "It is important for these mothers to protect and safeguard their children in order for them not to place their child's life at risk".

  1. National

British parents 'already' contacted police over Syria

There are "already many parents" who have contacted the police to stop their children fighting in the Syrian civil war, Dr Usama Hasan told Daybreak.

Dr Hasan, senior researcher at the anti-extremism organisation Quilliam Foundation, said the national awareness campaign to encourage parents to stop their child from fighting alongside jihadis in Syria was "very important" and urged Britain to be "open" about their citizens joining the war.

"Britain should be open about this issue ... hundreds of our fellow citizens are going to these places and let's understand the issue by trying to see what we can do about it," he added.

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Syria campaign encourages women to come forward

The head of counter terrorism for the West Midlands launches a campaign in Birmingham today to encourage female relatives of those planning to fight in the Syria conflict to come forward and help prevent it happening.

We want to increase their confidence in the police and partners to encourage them to come forward so that we can intervene and help. We want to inform those who wish to genuinely help the Syrian cause how they can do so safely and legally.

We are increasingly concerned about the numbers of young people who have or are intending to travel to Syria to join the conflict. We want to ensure that people, particularly women, who are concerned about their loved ones are given enough information about what they can do to prevent this from happening.

– Det Chief Supt. Sue Southern

Female campaign to stop men joining Syria fighting

Five people from Birmingham charged with Syria related offences in 2014 Credit: Reuters

The new head of counter terrorism for the West Midlands will launch a campaign in Birmingham today aimed at encouraging women to help stop male relatives joining the fighting in Syria.

Det Chief Supt. Sue Southern will speak at the event which will be attended by women from community groups, representatives from Birmingham City Council and local charities.

Since January five people from Birmingham have been charged with offences relating to the Syria conflict and are currently awaiting trial.

It is estimated that the number of people travelling to Syria from the UK is in the hundreds with the number of arrests increasing substantially in 2014.

Midlands events to warn of dangers of travel to Syria

It is part of a nationwide campaign Credit: ITV News Central

The new head of the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit is expected to speak about conflicts in Syria later.

Detective Chief Superintendent Sue Southern will be speaking at an event, which aims to make young people aware of the dangers of travelling to Syria.

People are being warned of the dangers of travelling to Syria Credit: ITV News Central

An event is also taking place in Nottingham, to inform people how to constructively help Syrians caught up in the conflict.

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