During an aid trip earlier this year, charity workers from the Muslim charity Human Aid UK suffered “humiliating questioning” by counter-terrorism police at Heathrow airport.
The charity stated that its delegates and charity workers were stopped as they attempted to travel to Gaza. The location is one of the many Middle Eastern areas where they deliver life-saving aid. The UK Border Agency also seized their project donations.
They were stopped under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. This law allows people to be detained at the border for up to 9 hours with no access to their phones or computers. They also have no rights to silence or a publicly funded lawyer. They must also provide their fingerprints and DNA. Since the person carrying out the detainment does not need grounds for believing someone may be engaged in criminal activity, it has been criticised on many occasions. For example, the human rights charity Liberty stated that this law is “ripe for misuse and discrimination”.
Nur Choudhury, the chair of Human Aid UK, said that many members of this and other Muslim charities have “repeatedly” been stopped under Schedule 7 powers. He added that the “excessive use of force by police and border agencies” were “symptomatic of the disproportionate harassment Muslim charities face”, and disrupt their life-saving and important work. For example, Human Aid expressed frustration that the Charity Commission previously spent years to complete a statutory inquiry that Human Aid was involved with. During the procedure, the charity’s bank accounts were frozen. The investigation eventually concluded that there was “no evidence of misapplication of charity funds”.
Sohidul Islam, Human Aid UK’s operation’s director, said that the stop made him feel “humiliated” and violated” as he was “innocent yet treated like a criminal.” Before eventually being released without charge, he was questioned for 6 hours. He said those border force officers: “asked questions about my religion, which mosque I pray at, my family members’ details, and all things which seemed unconnected and irrelevant to the purpose of my travel”. Due to the six-hour delay, which left them feeling as though their work was being criminalised, the charity workers missed their flight.
Due to this “large pattern of harassment”, Human Aid UK have concluded that they have no choice but to challenge these controversial counter-terrorism laws. They will do so by taking legal action against the UK government. The Home Office has stated that they will not comment further on the investigation into Human Aid as it is ongoing. However, the department expressed the importance of Schedule 7 and stated that: “large amounts of cash being taken in or out of the country for which a legitimate origin cannot be found are liable to be seized by Police or Border Force, under powers in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.”
By Charlie Murray
