UK commemorates Christchurch mosque attacks, places of worship receive double protection

Tuesday 17th March 2020 16:12 EDT
 
 

The UK government has doubled the security funding available for places of worship in their fight against hate crime, with £3.2 million allocated for 2020-2021. This follows after faith groups across the country on Sunday commemorated the one-year anniversary of the Christchurch mosque terror attack in New Zealand where over 50 people were shot dead while praying.

As part of the commemoration, the UK Home Office also launched a new consultation for faith groups to send their feedback on what more can be done to protect faith groups from attacks.

The Places of Worship Protective Security Funding scheme, now running for around four years, provides funding for measures such as CCTV, fencing, gates, alarms and lighting, to places of worship and associated faith community centres that are vulnerable to hate crime.

"The Christchurch terror attacks are an abhorrent example of far right terrorism which led to the deaths of over 50 people who went to pray and worship. Yet, the impacts of those grotesque murders were felt within the British Muslim community in the United Kingdom and within a 72-hour window. This meant that we could measure a 692% increase in anti-Muslim hate incidents against British Muslims going about their everyday business, within days of the New Zealand mosque attacks,” said Iman Atta OBE, Director of Tell MaMa.

The UK Home Office said this week that 27 mosques, 13 churches, five gurdwaras and four Hindu temples have received £1.6 million in funding for 2019-20, the largest amount of funding in a single year since the scheme was set up in 2016. A considerable fund is also allocated for Jewish synagogues.

The consultation, which will last for eight weeks, will ask faith groups what else should be done to help them feel safe and confident while practicing their religion. It will enable all faith groups to share their experiences of hate crime, and provide insight for the government in keeping pace with the evolving threat.

“The consultation recognises that different religious groups have different needs, and that some members of congregations, such as women or the elderly may feel more vulnerable than other groups. The results of the consultation will then be analysed and considered as part of future steps on how the government can protect religious groups,” the home office said.


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