Families of missing girls want apology from Met Police

Left to right: Shamima Belgum,  Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana. Pic: Metropolitan Police

Left to right: Shamima Belgum, Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana. Pic: Metropolitan Police

The families of three missing schoolgirls from Bethnal Green, who are thought to have joined Islamic state in Syria, want an apology from the Metropolitan Police.

According to the BBC, the request comes after the Met incorrectly suggested the families had known that a friend of the girls was already in Syria, before their daughters left London.

The Met later admitted that the friend of the three girls, and fellow student at Bethnal Green Academy, had not gone to Syria but had gone missing.

The families insist that they could have been able to stop the three girls if they had known this information beforehand.

The Met has not been able to confirm whether or not a formal apology request has been received.

On Friday, the family criticised the Metropolitan Police for not relaying critical information before the girls disappeared last month. Kadiza Sultana, 16, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum, both 15, were each given a letter from the Police to give to their parents regarding the disappearance of their friend, but hid them in their rooms instead.

The following day, the Met acknowledged that “with the benefit of hindsight”, they should have made direct contact with the families and handled the situation differently.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, is due to give evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Today.

The girls, who left their London homes last month having initially flown to Istanbul from London on February 17, were last seen on CCTV images at Gatwick Airport.

The Metropolitan Police said they: “now had reason to believe that they are no longer in Turkey and have crossed into Syria.”

The Turkish deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arinç has criticised the Met for not taking “necessary measures”.

Turkish authorities have said that the UK did not inform them for three days after their disappearance, but the Met say Istanbul was told promptly.

 

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