Attack on an teenage asylum-seeker in London puts concerns about hate crimes back in the spotlight

A vicious attack on a teenage asylum-seeker in London on Friday has put concerns about hate crimes in the country back in the spotlight.

The 17-year-old boy of Kurdish Iranian origin had been waiting at a bus stop in the south London neighbourhood of Croydon late last Friday when he was the subject of an “unprovoked” attack, police said. A number of people, including a teenage girl, have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and violent disorder relating to the incident which police have described as a hate crime. “When they established that he was an asylum-seeker, they chased him and launched a brutal attack,” the Metropolitan Police said on Monday, adding he had sustained “serious head and facial injuries”.

“All communities stand together against hate. No one should be subjected to violent behaviour especially those who have come to London to seek refuge and a place of safety,” detective inspector Gary Castle of Croydon CID said.

The attack has been widely condemned by politicians across the spectrum and a number of public crowd funding appeals have been launched to raise funds for the victim. While full details of the incident are yet to become clear, some have suggested it highlights the need for a wider debate on the rhetoric used around asylum-seekers, refugees and minority communities, particularly as the U.K. prepares to exit the EU.

Sustained increase

“Sadly, this is not an isolated incident, but part of a sustained increase in hate crime,” warned Diane Abbot, Labour spokesperson on home affairs issues, on social media over the weekend. “With right-wing politicians across the world scapegoating migrants, refugees and others for their economic problems we are seeing a deeply worrying rise in the politics of hate,” she added.

“I do think there is some reflection needed about how the tone of the national debate on immigration may have a bearing on people’s attitudes to asylum-seekers and other migrants,” Ben Ward, deputy director for Europe at Human Rights Watch, told The Hindu. “I am not sure you can connect a line in this case but certainly in the context of the referendum campaign concerns have been expressed about the xenophobic nature of some of the campaigning work,” he said, pointing to a warning last August from the UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination, which expressed serious concern about the sharp increase in the number of hate crimes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the weeks before and after the referendum. It noted that the referendum campaign was marked by “divisive, anti-immigrant, and xenophobic rhetoric.”

“The UN and other bodies have in different ways expressed concern that it may have contributed to a climate of intolerance and this is something that needs attention,” said Mr. Ward. “There is a risk that the process of exiting the EU — if not managed in the right way — may lead to expressions of intolerance and opposition to people of other nationalities that could be construed by some as invitations to take matters into their own hands.”

The issue of hate crimes has come under increasing attention over the past year. The House of Commons’ home affairs committee is currently considering the issue of “hate crimes and its violent consequences”, pointing in its terms of reference to the rise in attacks on people from ethnic minorities and non-British nationality in the days immediately following the referendum.

Mr. Ward said while incidents of hate were condemned by politicians and treated with great seriousness by police (in London alone, the Metropolitan police has more than 9,000 specialist staff dedicated to hate crime), there was a need to look at what could be done to prevent hate crimes.

“There is a need to go beyond condemnation and reflect on what is driving this intolerance…Otherwise, there is a danger in seeing these incidents as being isolated and disconnected from their context.”