Huge increase in Merseyside racist attacks |
| Written by J Kennedy | |||
| Tuesday, 30 August 2005 09:21 | |||
 THE number of racially and religiously motivated attacks has quadrupled in Merseyside since the London bombings.The shocking increase is evidence of a backlash against Muslims in the region following the terrorist atrocity. New figures show more than 200 calls were made to the Merseyside Racial Monitoring Unit helpline in the six weeks following July 7, compared with 48 in the preceding six weeks. The sickening attacks include gangs hurling stones at people and cars and excrement being smeared on people's windows. In one incident, an Indian man was verbally abused and had a brick thrown at him in his own front garden while his 31/2-year-old daughter played next to him. Last night, anti-racism campaigners urged city leaders to wake up to the fact that racism was a real issue on Merseyside and move to tackle the problem head-on. The MRMU helpline had recorded eight attacks in the week before the London bombings. But the number of people being attacked rose to 32 calls in the next week. Latest Merseyside Police figures show a similarly alarming 87% rise to 170 incidents reported in the month from July 7 to August 8, compared with 91 in the same period in 2004. The MRMU helpline log contains shocking examples of abuse against people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds including people of Turkish, Indian and Afro-Caribbean origin. This week saw the formation of a new black-led anti-racism group, following the murder of Anthony Walker. The 73-strong membership of the new Campaign Against Racial Terrorism (CART) has vowed to root out racism and encourage the authorities to promote multi-culturalism in the city's economy. Donna Bernard, spokeswoman for CART, said: "There has always been a race issue in Liverpool right up from slavery times to the modern day, and these figures just illustrate what is going on. "It's time to face up to it, Liverpool people have got to stop being in denial and saying this is a multi-cultural city because it's just not true. "If you walk down the street in certain areas, you won't see a black face. "The city council is very good at capitalising on the idea of the 'world in one city' slogan for their Capital of Culture title,, but they aren't facing up to the reality. "There is a real lack of support for victims of race crime." The attacks do not appear to be confined to one geographical area. Police logs show there were 63 racially or religiously-motivated attacks in Liverpool North between July 7 and August 8 this year, compared with 39 for the same period in 2004. In the same period, there were 21 incidents reported in Knowsley (compared with 10 in 2004); 25 in Wirral (11); 15 in Sefton (6), 16 in St Helens (7), and 30 in Liverpool South (18). Supt Rowland Moore, who heads the force's community relations team, said: "It is a significant increase in percentage terms, but we expected it. "We knew this was going to happen when the first news headlines rolled on July 7 saying the bombings might be linked to Islamic terrorists. "As soon as something like this happens, we get the backlash from the idiot brigade who think it's OK to go round and use the terrorist attacks as an excuse to abuse, damage and assault. "It is people who are already likely to carry out this kind of attack who see the bombings as some kind of justification to step up their operation." Supt Moore said: "The most significant increase has been in what you might call low-level verbal abuse, with people being called things like 'P-ki bomber', as opposed to physical attacks. "Some of it is more serious with damage to vehicles and property and threats being made." "We have been very proactive in going out to the Muslim community and letting them know we are there to support them. "But it's not always straightforward, sometimes people say they don't want us there in high-visibility jackets because they don't want to be seen as a 'grass'. "A lot of people think if they get called P-ki that it comes with the territory and they have to put up with it, but actually the message is that they don't." He added: "The message is we have to tackle this on all levels, we have to address the low-level incidents in order to stop it escalating into something more serious if it is tolerated." Liverpool City Council's new racial harassment hotline has also recorded an increase in calls, but a spokesman said the figures would not be released until after a review next month. MRMU helpline staff have identified significant problem areas in Dovecot and Croxteth, but say incidents are spread through the region including several repeat incidents in Huyton and Halewood. The charity's spokeswoman, Margaret McCadam, said she hoped the level of violence was beginning to slow after the Helpline logged 10 calls last week. But she said: "We are still very concerned. There is definitely an increased level of fear among the communities whose people have been at the receiving end of the harassment, and that is a major problem because people are scared to leave their own homes. "Its people who are perceived to be Muslim who are being targeted, so it's basically anyone who's not white. "A lot of people have said they are frightened and they think they are being targeted because of the bombings and that people think they are terrorists." Supt Moore agreed with campaigners and said the number of attacks was likely to be being "significantly under-reported" - people were either too afraid, or believed there was little point in asking for help. But he said the problem could be worse, if it weren't for continued efforts by the police, ethnic minority and community leaders to work together to raise awareness. A number of measures have already been implemented, including increased use of CCTV, and professional witnesses who shadow repeat victims and are willing to go to court to reveal undercover evidence. Alec McFadden, president of Merseyside TUC, welcomed the formation of CART, following what he described as a "massive increase" in race hate crime. A Liverpool City Council spokesman said: "There has been an increase in the number of incidents reported to the city council's racial harassment helpline since 7/7. "We are encouraging more people to come forward to report incidents. "The city council is putting in extra resources to help tackle race hate crime. A new worker to improve community cohesion is being appointed. "Their main role will be to make sure all the organisations involved in tackling racial attacks - such as the police,, city council, housing, etc - are working together to make sure hate crime incidents are dealt with quickly and effectively." * ANYONE who has suffered an attack can contact the Merseyside Racial Monitoring Unit hotline on: 0800 138 1688, call Merseyside Police Community Relations Department on: 0151 777 8550, or visit www.report-it.org.uk You can also contact Merseyside Victim Support on 0845 30 30 900.
|
Diigo
All contributed by people who make up the community, people like you! Come join us and get involved.... Share your voice at Blacknet!
Blacknet Media Group:
+44(0)7957 771 771 | +44(0)7789 640 139