ties that bind - sep 11

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3 Conclusion – Reviving Muslim Service in the Armed Forces Ideological and practical barriers to entry have made it increasingly difficult for young Muslims to seriously consider military careers. Overcoming them is crucial if the Ministry of Defence wants to succeed in recruiting more Muslims to the armed forces, to build more representative and successful services. At present, there are no official targets for recruitment of specific religious minorities. 344 Instead, there is a more general emphasis on boosting the overall level of ethnic minority representation. The current percentage targets for 2011/12 are: ? Army – 4.3% ? Royal Navy – 3.5% ? Royal Air Force – 3.6% 345 The MoD has regularly fallen short of realising these targets. 346 The latest figures available for the 2008/09 recruitment cycle reveal the following intake of ethnic minorities (targets for that cycle follow in brackets): ? Army – 3.1% (4.3%) ? Royal Navy – 2.1% (3.5%) ? Royal Air Force – 2.2% (3.6%) 347 The overall aim of the armed forces is to achieve 8 percent ethnic minority representation by 2013, bringing it in line with the level of ethnic minority representation in British society. Yet the MoD states that ‘Ethnic minority personnel are beginning to make progress towards the highest ranks in the armed forces although, given the low starting position, it will take many years before they are fully represented at all levels in the Services’. 348 This is a remarkable position for the armed forces given that men from across the Commonwealth were willing volunteers during the upheavals of the last century. Indeed, concerns about the MoD’s failure to attract minorities resulted in the Defence Select Committee launching an ‘e-consultation’ in 2008, which invited members of the public to share their opinions on why minorities are shunning military careers. 349 The Committee stated that they ‘were especially keen to investigate the disconnect that exists in the number of recruits from ethnic minorities who choose to join the Services’. These findings contributed to a 344 Asifa Hussain and Mohammed Ishaq, ‘British Pakistani Muslims’ Perceptions of the Armed Forces’, Armed Forces and Society, Vol. 28, No. 4, Summer 2002, pp.601-618; also Policy Exchange Freedom of Information request to Ministry of Defence (Ref: 29-07-2009- 112613-003) 345 Policy Exchange Freedom of Information request to Ministry of Defence (Ref: FOI-24-05-2011- 121509-007) 346 Equality and Diversity Scheme Annual Report 2008-2009 (Ministry of Defence), p. 7. 347 Ibid. 348 Ibid, p. 6. 349 http://web.archive.org/ web/20080625215457/http://for ums.parliament.uk/defencerecruitment/index.php?index,1 policyexchange.org.uk | 77
Ties that Bind 350 http://www.publications. parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cms elect/cmdfence/424/42404.htm 351 Adapted from the UK Defence Statistics 2010, published by the Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA); see more at: http://www.dasa.mod.uk/modint ranet/UKDS/UKDS2010/c2/table2 13.php 352 http://www.guardian.co.uk /uk/2009/apr/03/muslims-urgedjoin-armed-forces 353 http://www.socialcohesion. co.uk/blog/2008/06/british-armyplans-to-recruit-more-muslims.ht ml 354 Asifa Hussain and Mohammed Ishaq, British Pakistani Muslims’ Perceptions of the Armed Forces, Armed Forces and Society, Vol.28, No. 4, Summer 2002, pp.601-618. 355 Ibid, p.606 78 | policyexchange.org.uk lengthy report, which, in part, sought ‘to examine why ethnic minority personnel formed such a low proportion of the Armed Forces’. 350 The number of Muslim servicemen in the armed forces over the last three years is given in the table below. 351 Table 5: Numbers of Muslims in UK Regular Forces by service at 1 April, 2008-2010 2008 2009 2010 Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage All services 390 0.2 500 0.3 600 0.3 Army 300 0.3 410 0.4 500 0.5 Royal Navy 40 0.1 40 0.1 40 0.1 Royal Air Force 50 0.1 50 0.1 60 0.1 Senior politicians and military figures have also joined the efforts to create British armed forces that better reflect our population. In April 2009, the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces Bob Ainsworth appealed at the Armed Forces Muslim Conference for more British Muslims to join up, saying it was ‘vitally important that our army, navy and air force are reflective of the hugely diverse society in which we live’. 352 In June 2008, it was widely reported that the then Commander-in-Chief of British Land Forces, General Sir David Richards, had told an internal MoD journal that he wished to recruit more Muslims into the armed forces. 353 Muslim attitudes to the armed forces The most authoritative academic study exploring Muslim attitudes to recruitment was published back in 2002, but it still offers a remarkable insight into Muslim perceptions of the armed forces. 354 It focuses specifically on Muslims of Pakistani ethnic origin – the group which comprises half of the British Muslim community. The study polled 300 British Muslims of Pakistani ethnic origin and found that 46 percent said they would consider a career in the armed forces; the remaining 54 percent said they would not. 355 Reasons given by those who said they would not consider a military career are listed in the table below. Table 6: Reasons why British Pakistani Muslims would not consider a career in the armed forces Reasons for not joining % Response (all) % male % female Concern about the profession 26 21 28 Lack of knowledge about armed forces careers 20 21 19 Racism and lack of equal opportunities 16 24 7 Prefer further education 13 13 13 Prefer non-military/civilian careers 8 9 8 Not patriotic about Britain 6 7 6 Dislike British foreign policy 6 3 10 Disruption to family life 5 2 9
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Ties that Bind 3 See: http://www.cp
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Ties that Bind 17 Stolen Valour: Ho
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Ties that Bind 27 Omissi, The Sepoy
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Ties that Bind 41 Ibid. p.28 42 Ibi
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Ties that Bind 47 Geoffrey Bennet,
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Ties that Bind 58 Ibid. Also see, M
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Ties that Bind 64 Punjabi Musalman
Page 27 and 28: Ties that Bind 74 Omissi, Sepoy and
Page 29 and 30: Ties that Bind 84 The Comrade, 7 No
Page 31 and 32: Ties that Bind 90 Ibid, p.5 91 Ibid
Page 33 and 34: Ties that Bind 107 Ibid. 108 Supple
Page 35 and 36: Ties that Bind 128 Ibid. 129 Ibid.
Page 37 and 38: Ties that Bind 146 Ibid., p.90 147
Page 39 and 40: Ties that Bind 159 Punjabi Mahomeda
Page 43 and 44: Ties that Bind 181 CAB/24/54, Natio
Page 45 and 46: Ties that Bind 187 India’s contri
Page 47 and 48: Ties that Bind 191 Judith Brown, Mo
Page 51 and 52: Ties that Bind 211 Ibid, p.55 212 I
Page 53 and 54: Ties that Bind 224 Omissi, Sepoy an
Page 55 and 56: Ties that Bind 238 Ibid, pp.70-72 2
Page 59 and 60: Ties that Bind 265 CAB/66/58/25, Na
Page 61 and 62: 270 The Gallup Coexist Index 2009:
Page 63 and 64: Ties that Bind 278 Note that Al-Muh
Page 65 and 66: Ties that Bind 286 http://www.times
Page 67 and 68: Ties that Bind 299 Hans Wehr, A Dic
Page 69 and 70: Ties that Bind 308 http://www.dohad
Page 71 and 72: Ties that Bind 315 http://web.archi
Page 75 and 76: Ties that Bind 329 http://www.indep
Page 77: Ties that Bind 340 Keynote Address
Page 81 and 82: Ties that Bind 364 Humayun Ansari,
Page 85 and 86: Ties that Bind 390 Ibid, p. 49. 391
Page 87 and 88: Ties that Bind 406 Policy Exchange
Page 89 and 90: Ties that Bind 419 http://www.musli
Page 95 and 96: 439 London Gazette, 3 July 1945, ht
Page 97 and 98: 96 | policyexchange.org.uk Bibliogr
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