Over 100 incidents of hate crimes after Brexit
June 27, 2016
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) on Monday called for political and civil leaders to "deal with the division" prompted by the UK's referendum on its future in the EU, commonly referred to as the "Brexit."
The organization compiled over 100 reported incidents of hate crimes after the results of the historic in-or-out referendum were released on Friday, showing a tight win for the "Leave" camp.
The incidents included a "racist demonstration" outside a Birmingham mosque and "racist graffiti" being painted on a Polish center.
"As the results of the referendum became known, I called for our politicians to come together and heal the divisions that have emerged as a result of the campaign," said MCB Secretary General Shuja Shafi in a statement.
"Now we are witnessing the shocking extent of this with reports around the country of hate speech and minorities being targeted," Shafi added.
The "Leave" camp partially framed the referendum as a vote on migration to the UK, with the right-wing United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) using an image of refugees in Slovenia with the words "breaking point" as a campaign advertisement.
Shafi said she will be writing to the Home Secretary and Communities Secretary to "ensure that the government states clearly that intolerance against minorities is not acceptable."
The UK government reported in 2015 that hate crimes in England and Wales were on the rise.
"In 2014/15, there were 52,528 hate crimes recorded by the police, an increase of 18 percent compared with 44,471 hate crimes in 2013/14," the Home Office said in its report.