YOUNG people who travel to Syria and other countries to join Isis or take part in a jihad should be treated as victims, according to an abuse charity.

Ali Khan, chair of ethnic minority child abuse charity Roshni, said any British young people who left the country in such circumstances, and later chose to return should not be criminalised.

Instead, they should be allowed to share their experiences with other teenagers and young adults, he said.

Meanwhile, writing in The Herald today, Mr Khan says radicalisation should be viewed as a child protection issue, on a par with child sexual abuse.

"We can examine the broader themes of cause, prevention and intervention. However we also need to consider the common threads of the two issues - grooming, vulnerability and isolation," he said.

The comments come as Roshni, which focuses on issues affecting the wellbeing of ethnic minority women and children, is set to hold a major debate next month which will bring young people together to discuss issues of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation.

The first event of its kind, Exploiting, Exploited at Glasgow City Chambers on May 20 aims to identify the root causes of radicalisation and child sexual exploitation, by asking minority ethnic teenagers to discuss their experiences with policy makers, professionals and politicians.

Mr Khan said that radicalisation, grooming and child sexual exploitation are high profile issues in the media and politics, but young people were often too scared to speak out.

This is partly because of sensitivities around race and religion, he said. Rightly or wrongly, Muslims and Islam were often seen as the main offenders in both the child sexual exploitation agenda and issues around radicalisation, Mr Khan added.

This raises difficult issues for some ethnic minority groups, because while victims of child abuse are seen as victims and those who groomed them as criminals, the same does not apply to those groomed into extremism, who instead face judgement, travel bans and criminalisation.

Young people are aware of the stereotypes and want to challenge them, Mr Khan said, but fear speaking up could leave them subject to investigation by the authorities.

Exploiting Exploited will provide a platform for young people to air their views in a safe environment, he said.

Meanwhile he called for a rethink about attitudes to young people such as 'Glasgow jihadist' Aqsa Mahmood, who left Scotland for Syria in 2013 at the age of 19, or the Bethnal Green teenagers who are thought to have travelled there via Turkey in December 2014.

"Due to their vulnerability they have left the country and are subsequently seen as criminals. They are not labelled a victim. Instead they are seen as a radical, jihadi or even an extremist," he said. "A different option would be to support young people who make mistakes and use them as ambassadors to educate other young people, he said. "With evidence demonstrating that a peer-led support programme will help other young people learn, should we let young people return and truly talk about the reality?" he added.

Mr Khan said next month's event would allow ethnic minority young people to contribute to this conversation, by explaining their own experiences of two highly sensitive issues, and helping to find effective solutions.

"We will be facilitating constructive, meaningful dialogue between policy makers and minority ethnic young people, many of whom have never before been part of the solution," he said.

Last month London mayor Boris Johnson also likened radicalisation to child abuse and argued children who were were being exposed to extremism should be taken into care. However the Muslim Council of Great Britain condemned his comments as inflammatory.