Police warn family of six from Slough including four children under eight could be travelling to Syria

 
The family of six are feared to have travelled to Syria (Picture: Thames Valley Police)
Robin de Peyer19 April 2015
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A missing family of six including children aged as young as one are feared to be making their way to Syria, police said.

Asif Malik, 31, and his partner Sara Kiran, 29, are believed to have travelled through Europe by train after taking a ferry to Calais having disappeared with their four young children, Zoha Malik, seven, Essa Malik, four, Zakariva Malik aged two, and one-year-old Yahya Malik.

The family from Slough have not been seen since April 7 and were reported to police by concerned relatives on Thursday.

Police said they disappeared without mentioning any travel plans to relatives in what is said to be "entirely out of character" for the family.

Thames Valley Police said in a statement: "Given the online rhetoric from the Islamic State encouraging people to travel to Syria, the direction of travel and concerns voiced by Asif’s family, Thames Valley Police is concerned the family may be seeking to travel to Syria."

Detectives have established that the family boarded a ferry from Dover to Calais at around 12.30am on Wednesday, April 8.

They are also thought to have travelled through Budapest in Hungary around Sunday, April 12, according to detectives.

Thames Valley Police Acting Deputy Chief Constable, John Campbell said: “We are extremely concerned for the safety of this family, especially the four young children.

"We are reaching out to Asif and Sara, in the hope that they hear our messages and we encourage them to make contact with us so we can return them safely to their families who are extremely worried about them.

“We are concerned about anyone who has or is intending to travel to the part of Syria that is controlled by the terrorist group calling themselves Islamic State. It is an extremely dangerous place and not a place where young children should be taken.

“The choice of returning home from Syria is often taken away from those under the control of Islamic State, leaving families in the UK devastated and with very few options to secure their loved ones safe return."

Anyone with any information about where the family are should call Thames Valley Police on 101 quoting reference number 342.

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