Racist attacks by young people in Ireland 'a national crisis', says special rapporteur

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

Racist attacks in Ireland have intensified in recent months, with teenagers and young people perpetrating the majority of incidents, the special rapporteur on racial equality has said.
Dr Ebun Joseph, chief executive of the Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies, who is also the special rapporteur for the National Plan Against Racism, said that a rise in incidents of crime involving members of minority communities is becoming a national crisis.
Recent attacks on members of the Indian community have been widely condemned. The Ireland India Council believes there is an organised social media campaign against the Indian community here and the number of violent attacks has intensified since January this year.
A large crowd gathered outside the Department of the Taoiseach on Wednesday for a silent assembly in support of migrant workers.
Dr Joseph said that racism and racial crime is not a "new thing" in Ireland.
"It's been there. The black community, the Roma community, the new Traveller community have experienced racism in Ireland for years," she said. "This is not a new fight but in the last few months it has intensified. What is scary is that right now we have teenagers actually perpetrating these acts.
Dr Ebun Joseph: 'What is scary is that right now we have teenagers actually perpetrating these acts.' File photo: Cate McCurry/PA
"Young people are being made to think that violence against another person because of the colour of their skin or where they are from or their accent, that to feel that is right to do is a major problem. This is a national crisis."
Shashank Chakerwarti, of Desi Community Against Racism, said the protest also honours the dignity of victims of racist attacks.
"Another person was severely lacerated on his eyebrow just yesterday. His brow was cut into two pieces. Images of that sends chills down your body.
"We want to send a clear message to the Taoiseach (Micheál Martin) that you need to control this teenage violence and criminal activity that is going on in Dublin.
"There's been a lot of content directly taken from the British narrative, of migrants coming to Ireland via boats, but that is not the case. The far right are using that narrative and are applying it here which is completely incorrect."
He said there is a severe frustration that some individuals are feeling, "especially in deprived communities and areas where you don't see a lot of investment and local services".
They feel that third country people are taking their jobs and houses, but that is not the case at all.
He also called for the Government to introduce a campaign to encourage people to report hate crimes. "We need to (educate) people on how to report racist crime, but there is no direct engagement with communities about this," he added.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy was among those to take part in the protest. He said it is important to take a stand against racist violence.
"What we have seen on our streets over the past number of weeks is Indian people and others targeted with violent attacks because of the colour of their skin and where they are perceived to come from," he said.
"We need to push back against those who are pushing the racist lies and propaganda which is creating an environment where these attacks are taking place."
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said that racism has "crept" into Irish society. "We are at the point now where it is quite normalised for people to be racist in what they say on social media," the Wicklow TD said.
"It is important we have events and days like these where we stand and say this is not okay, it is not acceptable for racist attacks. There are racist elements who are allowed to say what they want without any come back.
"Our health system would collapse without many migrant communities and having that conversation of the value of migrants and also reflect on Irish people who have been migrants, it's something Irish people are very familiar with."