Black and minority ethnic children accounted for 60% of child arrests in London last year, according to a new study; campaigners say the statistics are evidence of an "appallingly disproportionate" application of the UK justice system, the Independent reports.

Black and minority ethnic children are significantly more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts, a sign of an "appalling" imbalance in the UK justice system, according to a report in the UK's Independent newspaper.

The report cites a review by the Howard League for Penal Reform of statistics for child arrests in England and Wales.

The figures show that 22,579 black or ethnic minority children under the age of 18 were arrested last year out of a total of 87,529. This figure is more than double the proportion of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in the population as a whole.

In London last year, out of 20,000 child arrests by the Metropolitan Police, 12,000 were BAME. Black or minority ethnic children made up 60% of arrests, while black or ethnic minorities comprise 40% of the city's population.

Campaigners told the newspaper that the findings are a cause for "great concern" and called for urgent government measures to tackle "institutional racism" in the criminal justice system.

Labour Party MP David Lammy, who is black, said that the figures are a "real cause for concern."

“While it is welcome news that the total number of child arrests is going down, it is a cause of real concern that the levels of disproportionality are so severe and are in fact getting worse." — @DavidLammy https://t.co/yt1PihTEh6 — The Howard League (@TheHowardLeague) 27 ноября 2017 г.

​The report has caused a lively discussion on social networks, where some users called on the police to do more to prevent children from ethnic minorities from being treated unfairly.

In London, more than half (60%) of all child arrests by @MetPoliceUK were black & ethnic minority children (12,000 out of 20,000 total.) — It’s high time the Met took a long hard look at itself, acknowledging the issue & made some necessary changes. https://t.co/mhB18peIql — Just Adam. 🤷🏻‍♂️ (@AdamPugh) 27 ноября 2017 г.

However, other commentators declared that the police statistics simply reflect a larger proportion of crime committed by ethnic minority children.

The bleeding heart liberals in Britain are concerned that the police are arresting a large number of non-White children. The bleeding hearts should not be concerned about the police doing their job and taking off the streets those who break the law.https://t.co/mWoFdiNI3u — i.Web.Paul (@iWebPaul) 27 ноября 2017 г.

​The Lammy Review, a review chaired by Lammy into the treatment of, and outcomes for, BAME individuals in the criminal justice system, was published in September. The review called for the application of a principle dubbed "explain or reform" to all criminal justice institutions.

"If agencies cannot provide an evidence-based explanation for apparent disparities between ethnic groups then reforms should be introduced to address those disparities," the review recommended.