Dozens of British Muslims named in King Charles’ first New Year Honors List

Dozens of British Muslims named in King Charles’ first New Year Honors List
Mouhssin Ismail, a former lawyer who gave up his legal career to champion social mobility through education, was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. (Supplied)
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Updated 01 January 2023

Dozens of British Muslims named in King Charles’ first New Year Honors List

Dozens of British Muslims named in King Charles’ first New Year Honors List
  • Former lawyer Mouhssin Ismail awarded OBE for services to education
  • Being recognized “an honor and a privilege,” he says

LONDON: About 40 British Muslims were named in King Charles’ first New Year Honors List, the Muslim Council of Britain reported.

The awards system recognizes those who have made an outstanding achievement in public life or committed themselves to serving and helping Britain.

The MCB congratulated all 1,107 recipients of the honors.

“It is great to see such excellent contributions to our society recognized, a real testament to the vital work faith communities continue to play in shaping our diverse Britain,” MCB Secretary-General Zara Mohammed said.

Mouhssin Ismail, a former lawyer who gave up his legal career to champion social mobility through education, was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

OBEs are awarded to those who have played a distinguished role in any field.

Fueled by the “realization that even though the vast majority of the population go to state schools, top professions are still occupied by people that have gone to fee-paying schools and grammar schools,” Ismail decided to pursue a career in teaching in 2007.

“I recognized that state school education wasn’t as rigorous and robust enough,” he said.

He added that the education received by his former colleagues in the legal profession who had attended grammar or fee-paying schools, “was far more vast and comprehensive than I experienced in a state school in inner city London.”

“So my aim was to try and change that and improve the rigor in state schools, as I genuinely believe that young people in deprived areas do not lack ambition. I just think it was the schools themselves not being sufficiently ambitious for the children,” he said.

Ismail went on to become the founding principal of Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Center where he worked for eight years to establish a center of excellence whose aim was to raise the aspirations and opportunities of young people in the community.

He is currently the regional director and executive principal at Star Academies where he oversees six schools in the northwest of England.

The 44-year-old Briton of Moroccan and Indian heritage told Arab News he was thrilled to have been awarded an OBE for his services to education.

“Obviously, it was a shock and a surprise. No one goes into teaching or this profession for accolades or awards. So it was definitely an honor and a privilege to receive it,” Ismail said.

“Even though I received the award, it really is a team effort and it would not have been achieved if I didn’t have fantastic colleagues who showed strong loyalty over the years, who were dedicated and committed to social mobility, and who were tenacious.

“If an OBE could be shared, it would be shared among all of my colleagues at the NCS because none of it was possible without them, and also the students as they were fantastic,” he said.

“It was an absolute joy and privilege to be able to educate them and to be able to have a school like the NCS in Newham, which is the second most deprived borough in London, and to get recognition for it. I just think it’s brilliant for the whole community to have that.

“Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds need aspirational schools with adults who believe in them and don’t lower the standards.”


Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
Updated 11 sec ago

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
  • Pilot who served alongside British forces was threatened with deportation to Rwanda
  • Unnamed pilot reached Britain in a small boat

LONDON: The UK Home Office is set to grant an Afghan pilot leave to remain in Britain after an intervention by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, The Times reported on Friday.

The unnamed pilot, who served as a lieutenant in the Afghan Air Force, reached Britain in a small boat across the English Channel as he said there were no safer legal routes into the country.

Despite flying more than 30 missions against the Taliban alongside coalition forces, he was threatened with deportation to Rwanda before his case became public after an investigation by The Independent, as he had traveled to the UK via a number of safe countries, including Italy, Switzerland and France.

The case was put to Sunak during questions at the House of Commons Liaison Committee earlier this week, at which he said “these are exactly the sort of people we want to help,” adding that he would ask the Home Office to look again at the pilot’s application.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has now said the former lieutenant will receive the right to permanently remain in the UK when he applies through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, but warned other Afghans not to travel illegally to the UK via the same route.

“The ARAP scheme is agnostic about where you’re applying from. The ARAP scheme has been used to bring people out of refugee camps in Greece. I would encourage people to apply for the ARAP scheme if they fit the requirements that we have set out,” Wallace said.

The decision comes after several senior political and military figures criticized the initial threat to deport the pilot.

Tobias Ellwood, chair of the House of Commons Defence Committee, and Lord West of Spithead, former head of the Royal Navy, both said the UK has a “duty” to people who had served alongside British forces in Afghanistan.

Lord West told The Independent: “The Afghans who helped us, whether they be interpreters or whether they were fighting alongside us, we have a duty to look after them — not least because they were helping us, but also because no one is ever going to want to help us if we ever get involved in a situation like that again.”

He added: “I understand all the issues about trying to stop boats coming across the Channel and people drowning. But I think occasionally one has to show some flexibility. And I would have thought this was a classic case where we should.”

A Home Office spokesman told The Times: “We remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan and so far have brought around 24,500 people impacted by the situation back to the UK.

“We continue to work with like-minded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.”


Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
Updated 11 sec ago

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
  • Pilot who served alongside British forces was threatened with deportation to Rwanda
  • Unnamed pilot reached Britain in a small boat

LONDON: The UK Home Office is set to grant an Afghan pilot leave to remain in Britain after an intervention by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, The Times reported on Friday.

The unnamed pilot, who served as a lieutenant in the Afghan Air Force, reached Britain in a small boat across the English Channel as he said there were no safer legal routes into the country.

Despite flying more than 30 missions against the Taliban alongside coalition forces, he was threatened with deportation to Rwanda before his case became public after an investigation by The Independent, as he had traveled to the UK via a number of safe countries, including Italy, Switzerland and France.

The case was put to Sunak during questions at the House of Commons Liaison Committee earlier this week, at which he said “these are exactly the sort of people we want to help,” adding that he would ask the Home Office to look again at the pilot’s application.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has now said the former lieutenant will receive the right to permanently remain in the UK when he applies through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, but warned other Afghans not to travel illegally to the UK via the same route.

“The ARAP scheme is agnostic about where you’re applying from. The ARAP scheme has been used to bring people out of refugee camps in Greece. I would encourage people to apply for the ARAP scheme if they fit the requirements that we have set out,” Wallace said.

The decision comes after several senior political and military figures criticized the initial threat to deport the pilot.

Tobias Ellwood, chair of the House of Commons Defence Committee, and Lord West of Spithead, former head of the Royal Navy, both said the UK has a “duty” to people who had served alongside British forces in Afghanistan.

Lord West told The Independent: “The Afghans who helped us, whether they be interpreters or whether they were fighting alongside us, we have a duty to look after them — not least because they were helping us, but also because no one is ever going to want to help us if we ever get involved in a situation like that again.”

He added: “I understand all the issues about trying to stop boats coming across the Channel and people drowning. But I think occasionally one has to show some flexibility. And I would have thought this was a classic case where we should.”

A Home Office spokesman told The Times: “We remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan and so far have brought around 24,500 people impacted by the situation back to the UK.

“We continue to work with like-minded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.”


NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’

NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’
Updated 29 min 11 sec ago

NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’

NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’
  • NATO chief says he looks forward to also welcoming Sweden as full member soon

BRUSEELS: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that Finland would formally become a member within days, as he congratulated its president on clearing the final obstacle to joining.
“I look forward to raising Finland’s flag at NATO HQ in the coming days. Together we are stronger and safer,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
After months of delays, Turkiye’s parliament on Thursday removed the last hurdle for Finland by becoming the last member of the US-led military alliance to ratify its application.
Stoltenberg said in separate statement that “Finland has highly capable forces, advanced capabilities, and strong democratic institutions.”
“So Finland will bring a lot to our alliance,” he said.
NATO foreign ministers are meeting at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels next week, when it is expected the membership could be formalized.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year upended European security and pushed Finland and its neighbor Sweden to drop decades of non-alignment and seek to join NATO’s protective umbrella.
Stockholm application remains stuck, however, because of ongoing resistance from both Turkiye and Hungary.
But Stoltenberg insisted that “all allies agree that a rapid conclusion of the ratification process for Sweden will be in everyone’s interest,“
“I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as a full member of the NATO family as soon as possible,” he said.


Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius

Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius
Updated 31 March 2023

Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius

Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius
  • Former Olympic runner was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp
  • A decision on Pistorius’ parole could come on Friday but is more likely to take days to finalize

PRETORIA: The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman Oscar Pistorius shot dead 10 years ago, will oppose the former Olympic runner’s application for parole, their lawyer said Friday.
Lawyer Tania Koen said ahead of a scheduled parole hearing for Pistorius that “unless he comes clean, they don’t feel that he is rehabilitated.”
Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic champion who made history by running against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympics, was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp at his home.
Pistorius claims he shot Steenkamp by mistake thinking she was an intruder in his home.
He was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison and is eligible for parole under South African law after having served half his sentence.
Koen said Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, would submit written and oral statements at Friday’s hearing opposing Pistorius’ application to be released from prison.
“She doesn’t feel that he must be released,” Koen told reporters outside the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in Pretoria, where Pistorius has been held since 2016 and where his parole hearing is expected to take place.
Submissions from a victim’s relative are just one of the factors a parole board takes into account when deciding if an offender can be released early on parole. The parole board will also consider Pistorius’ behavior in prison and if he would be a threat to society if he were released.
A decision on Pistorius’ parole could come on Friday but is more likely to take days to finalize.


Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped

Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped
Updated 31 March 2023

Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped

Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped
  • No details were provided on the number of crew kidnapped, nor their nationalities
  • The owner said there was no reported damage to the vessel or cargo

COPENHAGEN: The Danish oil tanker seized by pirates has been located in the Gulf of Guinea but a part of its crew has been kidnapped, the ship’s owner Monjasa said Friday.
The Monjasa Reformer, which had 16 crew on board when it was boarded by pirates on March 25, was found on Thursday by the French navy off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe.
When the vessel was located, “the pirates had abandoned the vessel and brought a part of the crew members with them,” Monjasa said in a statement.
“The rescued crew members are all in good health and safely located in a secure environment and receiving proper attention following these dreadful events,” it said.
No details were provided on the number of crew kidnapped, nor their nationalities.
“Our thoughts are with the crew members still missing and their families during this stressful period,” Monjasa said, adding that it was “working closely with the local authorities” to obtain the sailors’ safe return.
The owner said there was no reported damage to the vessel or cargo.
The 135-meter-long Monjasa Reformer “experienced an emergency situation” on March 25 around 260 kilometers west of Port Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo, Monjasa said.
The shipowner added that the crew had sought refuge in the tanker’s secure room or “citadel” when the pirates boarded, “in accordance with the onboard anti-piracy emergency protocol.”
The vessel was “sitting idle” at the time of the incident.