The fatal stabbing in Folkestone last month of Osman Shazad, an Afghan teenager in the asylum system, has raised many questions from the community. That people were shocked at the news of this crime, confirms that it is rare for a town like Folkestone, but we still want to understand more about how and why it happened.
For this reason, along with Shepway Councillors Sue Wallace and Emily Sanger, I called and chaired a meeting last Saturday of residents from the East and Harbour areas of Folkestone, which was held at St Mary’s primary school. We discussed the action that has been taken following this incident and were joined by representatives of the Kent Police, County Council, Shaun Taylor from the Shepway Community Safety team, Paul Emden the Chairman of the Harbour Residents Association and Peter Bettley from the Creative Foundation.
Firstly, we need to know that the police have the resources to keep our streets safe. Last year I joined a Friday night police patrol in the harbour area so I could see some of the issues they deal with myself. The patrol teams are based in Folkestone, and the town’s police station can be used for the overnight detention of offenders. The police response to the stabbing was swift and two men have been charged and will shortly stand trial; until then they are being accommodated away from our area. The Home Office is asking the police to make savings in its budget, but Chief Inspector Martin Bradley, the Disctrict Commander, was able to reassure the meeting that there will not be cuts to front line policing in Folkestone and, if anything, once the reforms have been put in place he will have potentially more uniformed police officers at his disposal.
The second question is why where the number young Afghan men involved in the fight that led to the stabbing being accommodated in Folkestone, and I think there are two key issues here. Firstly, we need to tighten up the immigration and asylum system. The new Government has introduced an immigration cap to restrict numbers coming to live in our country, and check that they the skills to make a positive contribution. They are also working through the backlog of asylum cases; people with bogus claims, or who have broken the law are and can be returned to their home country, including Afghanistan. However, these young men in Folkestone had a recognised status within the asylum system as unaccompanied minors between the ages of 15 to 18, and were being provided with accommodation by the County Council, as part of the services they deliver for the Home Office. I understand that the Council have reviewed the number of young men they had placed in Folkestone and that some are being moved away from the area. I believe that people legitimately within the asylum system need support to help them gain life skills to look after themselves and engage positively with society. In addition to government action, some excellent work is being delivered here by the Kent Refugee Action Network led by the Reverend Ken Berkin. I have also written to the leader of the County Council and the Immigration Minister asking for their comments on this.