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Asian agents root for MI5

LONDON: In an unprecedented outing, two MI5 agents who are Asians have spoken to the BBC about their experience of working in the shadowy world of spying, in an attempt to boost the agency’s image among ethnic minorities who often regard it with suspicion.

The BBC, which claimed it was the first time in its 98-year history that MI5 had allowed its spooks to speak on record, identified them: a male called himself Shazad, and a woman agent, Jayshree.

In choosing a Hindu and a Muslim to advertise its work, MI5 was seen to be trying to reach out to ethnic minorities, especially Muslims, who have accused it of “targeting” them in the wake of 9/11 and 7/7 attacks.

While MI5 sought to portray it as a part of its efforts to recruit more ethnic minority members and to be “truly representative” of Britain’s racial and cultural mix, the BBC said it was also related to the intelligence agency’s campaign against terrorism.

It said MI5 needed officers who were “able to blend into the communities in which they operated and have the right cultural and social backgrounds to identify where threats were coming from.”

The head of MI5 recruitment, identified simply as Mark, admitted that “we do need to have Muslims in our organisation because of the insight and understanding that they bring.”

Shahzad and Jayshree said they did not feel any conflict as British Asians in their roles because their work at MI5 was not about targeting communities, but instead about tracking individuals.

Shazad said: “If you look at the bigger picture, I think you realise this isn’t about spying on your own community, or letting your own community down, or any of those things. It is about protecting people like yourself others out there — from threats…”

Jayshree said she joined the MI5 as a way of repaying a debt to her country. “This is a country that has welcomed my family. I’ve been born, raised here — this is my country. I just want to work as hard as I can to ensure that it’s safe for my, I’d like to say community, but by that I mean my whole country.”

Currently, ethnic minority staff forms a fraction of MI5’s strength.

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