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Missing Syria girls' parents criticise police over letter Missing Syria girls' parents criticise police over letter
(about 3 hours later)
The parents of three girls feared to be in Syria say police failed to pass on a letter that would have alerted them. The parents of three London schoolgirls believed to be in Syria with Islamic State have criticised police for not passing on to them "vital" information.
Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, left their London homes last month and are thought to have joined Islamic State. Relatives say they might have been able to intervene if they had known one of the girls' friends was already in Syria and police had spoken to them about it.
It has emerged they had been spoken to by police at Bethnal Green Academy about a friend who had gone missing. Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, were given a letter for their parents, but hid it.
The Guardian says the girls were given letters to take home, which they hid rather than showing to their parents The Metropolitan Police said the girls had not been seen as a flight risk.
Detectives visited the school in east London in February and handed letters, requesting permission to take a formal statement, to friends of a 15-year-old whose disappearance had been investigated by counter-terrorism police. The Bethnal Green Academy pupils are thought to have joined IS in Syria last month, having initially flown to Turkey from London on 17 February.
'In the dark' 'Kept in dark'
The families, who told the newspaper they found the letters in textbooks only after the girls left, say such important information should have been given to them directly. Police spoke to Shamima, Amira and Kadiza after a close friend of theirs from the academy - a 15-year-old girl who has not been named - ran away to the region of Syria controlled by IS in December.
Vice News published the letter in which police reassured parents they were "not investigating your own daughter" and that their children were not "under suspicion of doing anything wrong". Officers spoke to them again at the beginning of last month and gave them letters to take home to their parents asking permission for counter-terrorism detectives to take handwritten statements about their friend's lifestyle and beliefs.
Renu Begum, sister of Shamima, told the Guardian they were "kept in the dark". The girls disappeared three weeks later, having never shown the letters to their parents.
She said: "We would have been able to prevent it if we knew there was a terrorism investigation by SO15 [Scotland Yard counter-terrorism command]. It would have made us know how serious it was." Their families found them hidden in the girls' bedrooms.
Hussen Abase, father of Amira, said: "The police neglected us, the school neglected us. It would have definitely alarmed me… 100% I would have stopped her. They did not warn us, they did not contact us at all." Relatives have criticised detectives for not going to them directly.
Shamima's sister Renu said the families had been "kept in the dark", while Kadiza's sister Halima Khanon said they should have been given what was vital information.
She told BBC Newsnight: "I think it's absolutely crazy for a school or the police not to inform the parents."
Kadiza's cousin, Fahmida Aziz, added: "If we had known what was going, we would have taken precautions."
Amira's father Abase Hussen said he believed he could have stopped her from leaving Britain for Syria.
Mr Hussen said: "The message I want to send is 'we love you, we miss you and [can't] imagine life without you'."
'Vulnerable teenagers'
BBC Newsnight understands that teachers at Bethnal Green Academy say they were not informed that the girl who went missing in December was feared to be with IS in Syria.
They say if they had been warned they could have looked out for warning signs in her friends, including the three who have disappeared.
The letter from Scotland Yard, first published by Vice News, was dated 2 February.
It was handed to the three girls three days later and said: "I understand your daughter may have known [the missing 15-year-old] as a friend.
"It is my role to understand [the missing girl] better and the reasons why she has decided to leave this country.
"I am trying to gather information which may help to find her and reunite her with her family.
"This will help the police and partner agencies to understand and prevent other vulnerable teenagers from disappearing. For these reasons I seek your permission to speak to your daughter."
The letter made it clear that the three girls were not being investigated.
'Great surprise'
The Met said: "There was nothing to suggest at the time that the girls themselves were at risk and indeed their disappearance has come as a great surprise, not least to their own families.
"The girls were spoken to in December 2014 as part of the routine inquiry by officers investigating the disappearance of their friend.
"We continue to liaise with the school and local education authority in connection with this ongoing investigation."
However, Scotland Yard added that, with hindsight, more could have been done to have given the letters directly to the girls' families.