Akeela Ahmed, the chief executive of the British Muslim Trust, said: \u201cWe are seeing a steady rise in the number of attacks against mosques, and we believe the government should be doing everything it can to help mosques protect themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the government announced it would provide up to \u00a340m to mosques as part of the protective security for mosques scheme. The initiative would allow mosques to apply for funding for physical security measures such as CCTV, alarms, fencing and other security personnel services.<\/p>\n
Home Office guidance says mosques should apply for \u201csecurity measures\u201d if they have experienced or feel vulnerable to hate crime, or if there has been hate crime in the area towards other places of worship or their congregants. The guidance warns applications that \u201cdo not include strong evidence or do not explain the risk clearly are unlikely to be successful\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ahmed has previously urged ministers to drop these requirements<\/a> for applying for protective security, saying it created a significant barrier to support.<\/p>\n The British Muslim Trust said mosques applying for funding have found the scheme to be difficult to access, with some waiting up to 18 months to receive funding. The monitoring group added that not only was there a backlog, but that many were being denied funding without explanation.<\/p>\n \u201cA mosque is vulnerable purely because it\u2019s a mosque. Currently, they\u2019re waiting for months while living in fear of another attack because of the backlog. In many cases, police aren\u2019t even responding to low-level incidents, leaving people frightened and vulnerable,\u201d Ahmed said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is great that this funding and initiative exists, but we need to recognise that the momentum on attacks is building, and we need to react and prepare for this.\u201d<\/p>\n
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