Evidence is emerging of an increase in racist incidents in the wake of the Brexit vote. There have been more than 100 reports of racist incidents since Friday, causing alarm about increasing racial, religious and ethnic tensions.

In particular, there have been instances of Muslims targeted in racist acts across Wales and in Birmingham. During a Channel 4 news interview, a voter in Barnsley, where the leave vote was nearly 70%, said he wanted “to stop Muslims coming to this country. Simple as that”.

Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) In Barnsley, 70% of the population voted to leave the European Union @C4Ciaran found out whyhttps://t.co/KursMuHHOV

We asked young Muslims and people from ethnic minorities to share their experiences after the referendum:



‘I fear for my daughter when people are being told to “get back to your own country”’

My blood ran cold when I heard we were leaving. I live in a small town in the north-east that voted 65% to leave. The Brexit campaign made me feel like an alien, an outsider, like being brown was now bad in England. I was excluded from the debate because I was up for debate – somehow I had become up for national debate.



Recently I spoke to a mum I know from my daughter’s school who has just recently moved from London. She says she isn’t happy here as the people are not very open and friendly.



Having been born and bred in England, my nationality, my birthright, has been suddenly called into question. I am fearful for my six-year-old daughter living in a place where people are being told on the street to “get back to your own country” or to “start packing”.

Sam, 34, Middlesbrough

Jahura Hussain.

‘I doubt I would get a visa now because of my hijab’



It’s a very sad time for British politics. As a Scottish Muslim, it will affect me the same as it will affect everyone else. I feel that Muslims have actively engaged in this campaign where young people have rallied together.



However, I do feel scared to go to France and I highly doubt I would even get a visa now because of my hijab. I think that will be the case across Europe – that we will be discriminated against when it comes to travelling because of our religion or the way we dress. I think overall it’s not just about Muslims but how it affects all of us. I hope that there will be a decrease in Islamophobia though.

I was, and am, proud to call myself a European, and still believe that the European project can and will live on. Scotland has voted to remain in the European Union. I voted to remain in the European Union and I will most definitely be voting yes in the next Scottish referendum and working to ensure we return to the EU.



Jahura Hussain, 20, Edinburgh

‘There is a poisonous anti-foreign sentiment in the air’



The result has left me feeling like an outsider. As a child, I grew up in a predominantly white, working-class area, and ignorant comments were almost made on a daily basis to me. As a mixed-race child of Oriental and European descent, I felt like I had to prove myself. My mother was put off teaching me her native language as a teacher told her it would stop me from progressing and “confuse” me. I was ashamed to show off my culture.

Seeing the active persecution of ethnic minorities and immigrants, I’m scared that those feelings of isolation and alienation that I experienced as a child will come back. But on a bigger scale, to the point I fear for my safety. I walk down the street now and I’m worried that people think I’m an outsider and that they want me gone.

I’m scared to go to my home town to visit my parents. I’m scared of how people will treat my white father for being married to my Oriental mother. I am scared that she may be attacked. I feel safer being in Manchester, but there is this poisonous anti-foreign sentiment in the air.



Brexit has allowed some people to believe that their intolerance and racism is now justified. I was in Manchester city centre and a woman glared at me in disgust. Whether or not it was to do with Brexit, I am now vigilant and cautious when I used to be carefree and happy. It all builds up and as an ethnic minority I don’t know if people accept me anymore. I used to be proud of this ethnically diverse country. Now I feel scared of it.



Khristi, 23, Manchester

Hassan Qadri.

‘This is a dark time for British Muslims’



It seems Project Hate has become Project Reality and has caused an unbridgeable chasm within society. The relentless fear-mongering, deceit and lies of the leave campaign have made this a dark time for British Muslims.



I am absolutely disgusted with the result and to hear from the leave camp that this is Britain’s “Independence” day is nothing short of comical. If younger voters [had] turned out in higher numbers the results may have been different. But this is primarily an educational issue, where the young need to know why their vote counts and how this referendum was different than a general election. Simply put, the old have failed the young.

Hassan Qadri, 21, York

‘Blaming your failures in life on an immigrant is not a solution to your problems’



Many leavers are claiming they got their country back but for ethnic minorities it will become more inhospitable. When I got off the train the other day I had a mud ball thrown at at me by a group of young children asking me why I was still here. This was not long after the result. They said I had 48 hours to go back to my home country.

I am a second-generation economic migrant. My dad was a bus driver, we had little to eat and I used to collect glass bottles and return them to off-licences to get the 5p or 10p in return. I vowed to escape that way of life. I went on to university and am now within the top 2% of all earners. I studied so hard that every piece of my sinews ached. An alternative vision of reality for me would have been growing up in a village in Pakistan. It would have been difficult but I would have stuck by my values and made the best of my situation.

So whilst I can understand individual feelings of being disaffected, blaming your failures in life on an immigrant is not a solution to your problems.

I want to live in a country where people are kind, tolerant and decent, not xenophobic and prejudiced. I fear the rise of the far right and I doubt leaving the EU will make things any better for those who are already marginalised in our society. How did Great Britain become Little England?

Bil, 46, Derby

Assad Khan.

‘The leave campaign completely alienated young Muslims’



The leave campaign peddled hate, bigotry and xenophobia. Of course, not everyone who voted leave was racist, but there is evidence to suggest that a significant amount were. I can’t speak on behalf of all young Muslims but what I can say is that the leave campaign did nothing to involve young Muslims. In fact, it alienated them.



There are many young Muslims who were completely disengaged during this referendum. Seeing as turnout levels are low, it’s good to target those in the minority.



What has started to become evident is that there is a huge difference between Scotland and England and how they engage with their minority communities. I’m happy to see Nicola Sturgeon bringing the constitutional independence referendum back on the table.

Assad Khan, 18, Edinburgh

‘It was the first openly racist incident I’ve experienced in over 30 years’



The day after the result I was at Heston services for a coffee when I saw a car with a St George flag stuck on its side. Three white males, a woman and a small child saw me get out of my car, and one of them turned his back to me and shouted “fucking immigrants, we voted out!”



It struck me as a bit odd as I am not an immigrant. Having being born here and being a barrister, I don’t consider myself an immigrant in the way he implied it. This is the first openly racist incident I have encountered in over 30 years and it’s sadly looking like it is not just me.

I have two beautiful kids with an Irish-English wife. Should I leave my home country? What should I do?



Mahmud Choudhry, 49, London