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3<br />
Conclusion – Reviving Muslim<br />
Service in the Armed Forces<br />
Ideological and practical barriers to entry have made it increasingly difficult for<br />
young Muslims to seriously consider military careers. Overcoming them is<br />
crucial if the Ministry of Defence wants to succeed in recruiting more Muslims<br />
to the armed forces, to build more representative and successful services. At<br />
present, there are no official targets for recruitment of specific religious<br />
minori<strong>ties</strong>. 344 Instead, there is a more general emphasis on boosting the overall<br />
level of ethnic minority representation. The current percentage targets for<br />
20<strong>11</strong>/12 are:<br />
? Army – 4.3%<br />
? Royal Navy – 3.5%<br />
? Royal Air Force – 3.6% 345<br />
The MoD has regularly fallen short of realising these targets. 346 The latest figures<br />
available for the 2008/09 recruitment cycle reveal the following intake of ethnic<br />
minori<strong>ties</strong> (targets for <strong>that</strong> cycle follow in brackets):<br />
? Army – 3.1% (4.3%)<br />
? Royal Navy – 2.1% (3.5%)<br />
? Royal Air Force – 2.2% (3.6%) 347<br />
The overall aim of the armed forces is to achieve 8 percent ethnic minority<br />
representation by 2013, bringing it in line with the level of ethnic minority<br />
representation in British society. Yet the MoD states <strong>that</strong> ‘Ethnic minority<br />
personnel are beginning to make progress towards the highest ranks in the armed<br />
forces although, given the low starting position, it will take many years before<br />
they are fully represented at all levels in the Services’. 348 This is a remarkable<br />
position for the armed forces given <strong>that</strong> men from across the Commonwealth<br />
were willing volunteers during the upheavals of the last century.<br />
Indeed, concerns about the MoD’s failure to attract minori<strong>ties</strong> resulted in the<br />
Defence Select Committee launching an ‘e-consultation’ in 2008, which invited<br />
members of the public to share their opinions on why minori<strong>ties</strong> are shunning<br />
military careers. 349 The Committee stated <strong>that</strong> they ‘were especially keen to<br />
investigate the disconnect <strong>that</strong> exists in the number of recruits from ethnic<br />
minori<strong>ties</strong> who choose to join the Services’. These findings contributed to a<br />
344 Asifa Hussain and<br />
Mohammed Ishaq, ‘British<br />
Pakistani Muslims’ Perceptions of<br />
the Armed Forces’, Armed Forces<br />
and Society, Vol. 28, No. 4,<br />
Summer 2002, pp.601-618; also<br />
Policy Exchange Freedom of<br />
Information request to Ministry of<br />
Defence (Ref: 29-07-2009-<br />
<strong>11</strong>2613-003)<br />
345 Policy Exchange Freedom of<br />
Information request to Ministry of<br />
Defence (Ref: FOI-24-05-20<strong>11</strong>-<br />
121509-007)<br />
346 Equality and Diversity<br />
Scheme Annual Report 2008-2009<br />
(Ministry of Defence), p. 7.<br />
347 Ibid.<br />
348 Ibid, p. 6.<br />
349 http://web.archive.org/<br />
web/20080625215457/http://for<br />
ums.parliament.uk/defencerecruitment/index.php?index,1<br />
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