Islamophobic attacks on the increase in Redbridge

Data from the Metropolitan Police Service has shown how over the past six years, Islamophobic attacks have risen in London.

MEND Redbridge Chairman Vaseem Ahmed reported that:

“Hate crime has definitely gone up post-Brexit but one thing you should realise is that it is not a one-off thing – it has been going up since 2010”. He added: “Statistics are damning and the policy responses from government has been lacklustre. The impact is devastating.”

According to Met police the numbers of religious and racist hate crimes have drastically increased, from 328 incidents in August 2014 to 425 in August 2016. In correlation to this, Islamophobic hate crimes have also increased in Redbridge.

“The biggest rise in hate crime in Redbridge is Islamophobic crime.

“There is a lot of stuff going on that is really dreadful. I have got two grown-up daughters, every time they leave the house I worry for them,” said Mr Ahmed.

In order to tackle this, Redbridge MEND has committed to work more extensively with the council, police borough commander, and mayor to tackle the issue.

MEND wants to encourage victims to report any incidents which they have experienced and are hoping to make more stringent changes by implementing third party reporting centres in places of comfort such as mosques.

Staff are working with local police to see how hate crimes tie in with ethnicity and are encouraging for BME to sit on independent advisory groups.

“We want to work with the council to raise awareness of hate crime and hold events to bring the community together to celebrate the diverse richness, background and culture in Redbridge,” said Mr Ahmed.