The British government believes that the country’s universities have become “fertile recruiting grounds” for terrorists and has drawn up a series of proposals, designed to crack down on extremism, that will be sent to higher-education institutions before the end of the year.

According to one newspaper, The Guardian, which has seen an 18-page report describing the proposals, “lecturers and university staff across Britain are to be asked to spy on ‘Asian-looking’ and Muslim students they suspect of involvement in Islamic extremism and supporting terrorist violence.” The proposals have been drawn up by the Department for Education and Skills, and the document reportedly acknowledges that many universities will have concerns about passing information to special antiterrorist law-enforcement officials.

In the aftermath of terrorist bombings in London in July 2005, the British government told universities to “identify and confront” extremists on their campuses. That announcement drew protests from Muslims and others who said it foreshadowed a new McCarthyism in Britain. The universities subsequently received specific guidelines on their obligations to combat extremism on their campuses. The new proposals would seem to intensify that earlier set of rules.

Drummond Bone, president of Universities UK, a group representing the vice chancellors of British universities, described the guidelines as both “unreasonable” and “counterproductive.” “It is not constructive for government to suggest universities are complacent or passive about extremism,” he said.