Radical Muslim inmates are reportedly coercing other prisoners, predominantly white British men, into converting to Islam within several UK correctional facilities, a situation described by some as turning prisons into ‘jihadist training camps.’ This concerning trend, first highlighted by Sky News in 2013, has reportedly escalated, with the Prison Officers Association noting the growing power and influence of Muslim gangs. Nick Timothy, shadow justice secretary, has publicly urged the Labour Government to address these forced conversions, citing data that indicates 1 in 5 Muslim prisoners are white—four times the rate in the general population—and asserting that conversion to Islam is becoming a prerequisite for safety. Experts have repeatedly warned about these behind-bars conversions driven by Islamic gangs, with calls for urgent investigation and eradication of the practice. While the Ministry of Justice states most prisons show no evidence of gang-based extremism and has implemented measures against terrorist prisoners holding positions of authority, critics like Nile Gardiner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, argue that the British government has lost control, leading to a significant national security risk. The rise in Muslim prisoners, accounting for nearly 18% of the population in England and Wales despite being 6.5% of the general populace, is linked by some to defective immigration policies and poses immense risks to British national security and crime. Jonathan Hall, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, documented in his 2022 report how Islamist terrorists act as ‘self-styled emirs,’ exerting controlling and radicalizing influence, recruiting vulnerable prisoners through gifts and shared meals, and backing conversions with implicit or actual violence. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson affirmed that intimidation, gang activity, and faith-based coercion are not tolerated, and that swift action is taken to clamp down on threatening behavior, with reviews and improved data collection aimed at disrupting extremist gang activity. Colin Bloom’s independent review also found that failing to identify as Muslim could lead to denial of ‘protection’ or subject new prisoners to violence and intimidation, with evidence of Korans being placed on beds of incoming inmates with the explicit threat of harm if they did not convert, a tactic used to coerce conversion for protection within dominant Muslim gangs.
Adapted from: Latest World News on Fox News
