A charity that tackles anti-Muslim bigotry saw its funding from the Department for Communities slashed when Robert Jenrick and Michael Gove ran the ministry.
Remembering Srebrenica, which raises awareness about a genocide of Muslims in Bosnia, has lost most of its government grant since 2021 and may have to close down.
Jenrick, a Conservative leadership contender, was accused of Islamophobia yesterday after he told Sky News that people who “shout Allahu Akbar on the streets of London” should be “immediately arrested”.
The Arabic phrase, meaning God is the greatest, is used routinely by Muslims for worship.
Gove, who stood down as an MP at the last election, has long pushed for tougher policies towards British Muslims.
He claimed “a sizeable minority” hold views comparable to the threat posed by Nazism, and dismissed a cross-party definition of Islamophobia as “drivel”.
The definition classed Islamophobia as “a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness”.
Jenrick and then Gove ran the Department for Communities from 2019 until last month, with Kemi Badenoch holding a junior ministerial role during some of that time.
Their decisions to cut funds for the charity – originally launched by David Cameron to tackle Islamophobia – has now come under scrutiny following days of anti-Muslim riots in England.
The violence, which the director of public prosecutions has warned may amount to terrorism, has seen far-right rioters besiege mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers.
Campaign group Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) is demanding that the cuts be reversed, telling Declassified: “The Remembering Srebrenica charity plays a critical role in educating the public about the horrors and consequences of unchecked and weaponised hatred, particularly against Muslims.”
The charity organised educational trips to the Bosnian town where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred by Serb forces. Over three days in 1995, Srebrenica saw the worst slaughter in Europe since the Holocaust.
Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic was found guilty of genocide by a United Nations court. Around half of Bosnia’s population is Muslim, with Islam tracing its origins in the region back to the 15th century.
MEND’s spokesman, Abdullah Saif, said: “The Srebrenica genocide is a stark reminder of the devastating impact of Islamophobia and the importance of vigilance against such ideologies.
“Commemorating this tragic event helps to ensure that future generations understand the severity of hatred and the importance of fostering a society based on mutual respect and acceptance.”
He added: “What is striking about Bosnia at that time was that communities weren’t just integrated, but assimilated – yet the genocide still took place. Given the recent rise in far-right activities and Islamophobic attacks across the UK, it is more crucial than ever to support organisations that work to counter these dangerous trends.”
The communities ministry declined to comment.
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‘Dinner party test’
Remembering Srebrenica was launched in 2013 by David Cameron and William Hague with backing from then Conservative party co-chair Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who warned Islamophobia had “passed the dinner party test”.
Warsi said by commemorating the slaughter in Srebrenica the charity would “teach future generations about the devastating consequences of hatred on our doorstep.”
The group also received endorsements from the Foreign Office and was seen as a form of soft power for British diplomacy in the Balkans.
At its height, the charity educated 200,000 young people, took hundreds of guests to visit Bosnia and held thousands of events in the UK.
Yet Remembering Srebrenica has since seen deep cuts, despite rising Islamophobic attacks in Britain and threats from Serbs to renege on a peace deal in Bosnia.
Under Jenrick, the Department for Communities reduced its funding in 2021 from £400,000 to £250,000, which the charity’s president – Tory peer Lord Bourne – described as a “massive cut” that “came out of the blue as a shock” and was delivered “in one fell swoop!”
Gove took over the department months later, with Badenoch as his deputy for some of the time, and together they implemented deeper cuts.
In 2022, an MP supportive of the charity complained to Gove’s department about the decision to “slash their small grant funding by nearly 40%”, noting it “was not paid until the final month of the last financial year which resulted in significant staff cuts having had to be made.”
The charity’s published accounts show the number of staff fell from eight to three. By last year, it was only eligible for £150,000, of which just half was guaranteed – and at one point in 2023 the Conservatives planned to cease funding it altogether.
The charity relies on the communities ministry for almost 90% of its income. Declassified understands that no decision has yet been taken by Labour on whether to fund the charity for this financial year, which began in April.
A document released through a Freedom of Information request by Declassified shows that any grant was “very likely to be at a significantly lower level” and the Conservatives had decided that “in any event, no further funding will be made beyond the end of the 2024/25 financial year.”
This may mean the charity will have to close next April, just months before the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.
‘Difficult decisions’
Other letters disclosed to Declassified show ministers were repeatedly warned about cutting funding to the charity and that it considered closing as far back as 2022 due to financial uncertainty.
Badenoch, who now wants to lead the Conservative party, told Tory peer and former Bosnian refugee Baroness Helic that “the department has had to make some difficult decisions on which projects we can fund”, saying that “all of our funded programmes dealing with race, hate crime and integration” could see their grants stopped.
Funding for 2022 was only confirmed after Badenoch had left the department that July. Yet Gove remained in overall charge and on 31 March 2023 the charity was told by a civil servant that all its funding would be stopped the very next day.
This gave the charity no warning and caused alarm because it had already arranged an event with the Foreign Office to host Bosnia’s president. That funding decision was later reviewed and up to £150,000 was given to the charity for the last financial year.
In contrast, the department’s funding for a similar charity that was set up by the British government, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, has remained steady at £900,000 per year during the same period.
Saif from MEND said “combating Islamophobia requires a multifaceted approach, including education, community engagement, and robust support for initiatives that promote understanding and tolerance.
“We at MEND therefore advocate for increased funding and support for Remembering Srebrenica. Such funding would enable the charity to continue its vital work in raising awareness, educating communities, and preventing the spread of hatred.”
The group is also calling on Keir Starmer’s new Labour government to adopt other measures to prevent further anti-Muslim riots.
Saif commented: “The Prime Minister has condemned attacks by the far right on Muslims and mosques, but only belatedly began to call this Islamophobia. You cannot tackle something if you cannot even name it. Language matters and it needs to be called out for what it is.”
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has called on the government to boost security at mosques, and welcomed additional support from the Home Office to improve protection.
MCB head Zara Mohammed said: “What we saw on the streets of Britain [was] the consequence of unchecked Islamophobia: acceptable, potent, and very real in our society today.
“The government is right to speak out against the extremism witnessed on our streets, but it has been silent on the Islamophobia fueling that extremism.”
