This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31820783

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Syria girls: Families tell MPs of school letter anger Syria girls: Met Police chief apologises for letter failure
(35 minutes later)
Families of three missing schoolgirls have told MPs they would have done more to monitor them if they had known a fourth girl had already gone to Syria. The head of the Met Police has said sorry to the families of three girls missing in Syria after they failed to receive a letter intended for them.
The families have complained that a police letter about the first girl was not sent directly to them. The families complained the letter - about a friend of the girls who went to Syria - had not been sent directly.
Sahima Begum - sister of Shamima Begum - said her family was "never given the opportunity" to question her. It is feared Shamima Begum, Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16 left for Syria to join Islamic State.
Shamima, Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16 - all from London - travelled to Syria last month. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe told MPs he was sorry "the letter that we intended to get to them didn't get through".
Appearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee, Ms Begum said her family only found the police letter about the first girl after Shamima had gone missing. The families of the schoolgirls told the Home Affairs Select Committee they would have done more to monitor the girls if they had known the fourth girl had already gone to Syria.
She said they later found out the letter had been given to the girl - rather than being sent to the families directly. All four girls were friends and pupils at Bethnal Green Academy, in east London.
Ms Begum said her family "did what they could" to monitor Shamima's activities, but would have done more had they known the first girl had gone to Syria. The committee heard the letter was given to the girls at the school, rather than being sent directly to the families.
The families have called for the Met Police to apologise after the letter was given to the girls, rather than to the families directly. Sahima Begum - sister of Shamima - told the committee her family was "never given the opportunity" to question Shamima as they did not receive the police letter.
She said her family only found the letter about the first girl after Shamima had gone missing.
Ms Begum said her family "did what they could" to monitor her sister's activities, but would have done more had they known the first girl had gone to Syria.
'Role to play'
The families had called for the Met Police to apologise after the letter was given to the girls, rather than to the families directly.
Solicitor Tasnime Akunjee, representing the families, told the committee that had the parents received the letter they would have been "on notice" for issues like radicalisation and foreign travel.Solicitor Tasnime Akunjee, representing the families, told the committee that had the parents received the letter they would have been "on notice" for issues like radicalisation and foreign travel.
Police had "put a cap" on the amount of information passed to other families about the first girl, he said.Police had "put a cap" on the amount of information passed to other families about the first girl, he said.
'Role to play'
It comes as Prime Minister David Cameron said parents and schools must also help prevent young Britons travelling to Syria.It comes as Prime Minister David Cameron said parents and schools must also help prevent young Britons travelling to Syria.
In an interview with LBC radio, he said that no institution should be made a "scapegoat" for the girls' disappearance.In an interview with LBC radio, he said that no institution should be made a "scapegoat" for the girls' disappearance.
The three schoolgirls travelled from east London to Turkey last month, before crossing into an area of Syria controlled by Islamic State militants.The three schoolgirls travelled from east London to Turkey last month, before crossing into an area of Syria controlled by Islamic State militants.
Mr Cameron said "everyone has a role to play" in stopping Britons joining IS, including politicians, parents, communities and schools.Mr Cameron said "everyone has a role to play" in stopping Britons joining IS, including politicians, parents, communities and schools.
"When you have got educated British schoolgirls at an outstanding school in Greenwich finding it somehow attractive to get on a plane to travel to Syria to go and live in a country where gay people are being thrown off buildings and British citizens are being beheaded, and appalling brutality is being meted out, we have a problem," he said."When you have got educated British schoolgirls at an outstanding school in Greenwich finding it somehow attractive to get on a plane to travel to Syria to go and live in a country where gay people are being thrown off buildings and British citizens are being beheaded, and appalling brutality is being meted out, we have a problem," he said.
He added: "Let's not pretend this is simply a problem that can be dealt with by policing."He added: "Let's not pretend this is simply a problem that can be dealt with by policing."