01/07/2013

Five Serious Racist Incidents A Week Reported To The Immigrant Council

50 serious racist incidents have been reported to the Immigrant Council of Ireland in the 10 weeks since the launch of a major awareness campaign, according to preliminary figures released today.

The figures, which have been drawn from both email and telephone contacts with the Council, confirm that racism can take many forms and is taking place in a whole range of locations.

In many instances people are reporting they have been subjected to a variety of forms of racism, that is, attacks on family homes which may also involve threats and verbal abuse. These targeted attacks are occurring at a number of locations.

The initial findings show that the main types of racism are:

• Various acts of discrimination

• 21 cases or 42% of reports

• Verbal harassment

• 19 cases or 38% of reports

• Property damage

Commenting on the findings, Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland said: "While our figures are preliminary and later in the summer we will be in a position to provide a more detailed analysis, we should be concerned firstly at the level of reports currently being received by the Immigrant Council of Ireland.

"We are responding to an average of 5 serious incidents a week, while the figure for 2012 was an average of 1 a week. At first glance this can appear alarming but it is also a sign that barriers which previously prevented people from coming forward are being overcome."

(CD/JP)

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