THE Bradford Council for Mosques this afternoon posed questions about the effectiveness of local and national intelligence after 12 family members disappeared following a pilgrimage to Saudia Arabia.
The three women and nine children, aged between three and 15, from the Dawood family of Little Horton, Bradford, are feared to be heading for Syria, where a brother of the women is thought to be fighting with extremists.
There is particular concern about the whereabouts of two of the children, aged five and eight, who may not have boarded the flight from Saudi Arabia.
A statement from the Council for Mosques said: "Apparently, all the children are of school age. How it is that all the children were granted authorised/unauthorised leave during term time by the schools? What steps have the Bradford Council’s Children Services taken about the schools granting the children authorised/unauthorised leave to travel to perform pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia?"
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The statement went on: "We are deeply concerned about the whereabouts of a family of 12 on their way back from the pilgrimage to Saudia Arabia. Our concerns are heightened by the fact that nine of those missing are children from the ages of three to 15.
"We are also extremely perturbed to discover that out of 12 who should be travelling on their way from Saudi Arabia, only ten are reported to have boarded a flight from Madinah. If these unconfirmed reports are true then the question arises as to what has happened to the other 2 left behind and why they were left behind.
The 12 missing members of the Dawood family
"As to the disappearance of the family from Turkish airport, how is it that a family of 10 people have gone missing without the knowledge of Turkish authorities?
"The reports also suggest that one of the families had already a connection with Syria. Was the authorities aware of this, and if yes, what steps were taken to monitor their travel? This is extremely a concern to us in the light of Home Secretary statement on account of 3 young teenagers travelling from London to Syria that the authorities would extremely vigilant of those travelling to Turkey/Syria? Were these families not on the authorities’ radar?
"We are extremely concerned about the safety and the wellbeing of these families. We fear that a suggestion of a Syria connection may contribute to authorities taking an eye off from the safety of these families.
"Once we have more information as to what has really happened and know the whereabouts of the missing 12, CfM will be calling a meeting of all the key stakeholders to discuss the issues highlighted by this very sad and sorry episode."
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