| DfES leaked guidelines to Universities details plans to “monitor Asian looking students” |
| 19/10/2006 |
| Seems UUK and UCU are backing us on this one. We are asking that we are consulted on any further work on these guidelines out to Universities, and going to be lobbying for any aspect of monitoring to be removed entirely. NUS responds to proposed on-campus anti-terror measures NUS National President Gemma Tumelty said:
“NUS is deeply concerned by this policy and we fear, above all, that it will create a McCarthy-like atmosphere of suspicion between students and lecturers. Treating any one section of the student community with such mistrust shows contempt for their basic civil liberties, and flies in the face of encouraging good relations on campus and in society at large. Lecturers and students both have an interest in defeating terrorism and we have serious concerns that polarizing their relationship could prove counterproductive to the dialogue and free flow of information that is essential to any sustainable counter-terror initiative. Demonizing and stigmatizing student communities is no way to defeat terror. Indiscriminate monitoring of groups on campus assumes collective guilt. This will only fuel the racism and Islamaphopia that our society should be trying so hard to stamp out. It also runs the risk of alienating those students who oppose terrorist attacks like those of 7/7 and 9/11, and whose cooperation will be vital to the work of the police in preventing further attacks. As always, NUS would encourage any student who is aware of terrorist activity to inform the police immediately.” I appeared on ITN, Channel 4, News 24, London Broadcasting Radio, NBC and More 4 News.
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