Missing Syria girls: Headmaster claims 'no evidence’ that girls were radicalised at school
Mark Keary, the head of Bethnal Green Academy, said that access to social media was strictly regulated
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Your support makes all the difference.The headteacher of the school attended by three British schoolgirls who are believed to have flown to Turkey to join Isis in Syria reiterated today that police have no evidence the missing pupils had been radicalised there.
Mark Keary of Bethnal Green Academy, east London, said that the school was “shocked and saddened” by the disappearance of Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-olds Amira Abase and Shamima Begum.
On February 15 Ms Begum used Twitter to get in touch with 20-year-old Aqsa Mahmood, a woman from Glasgow who is understood to have joined Isis and married one of its fighters. Mr Keary said that access to social media at the school is “strictly regulated”.
“With such measures in place, police have advised us that there is no evidence that radicalisation of the missing students took place at the academy,” he said.
The trio flew to Istanbul in Turkey from Gatwick Airport a week ago. It is feared they were planning to travel across the border into war-torn Syria, although police said there was a “good chance” they were still in Turkey. The Turkish intelligence force is understood to be hunting for the girls in Istanbul, along with local police assisted by officers from Scotland Yard and the security services.
It emerged on Friday that the three missing girls were close to a 15-year-old from their school who travelled to Syria last December.
Mr Keary said police had spoken to the girls after the previous student disappeared and indicated at the time that there was no evidence that they were at risk of being radicalised or absconding.
There was growing concern about the role played by airport and border staff after it emerged Ms Begum used the passport of her 17-year-old sister, Aklima, to leave the UK.
David Cameron has called for airlines and internet firms to be more proactive in curtailing radicalisation.
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