UK gov’t, police must to do more to tackle ‘xenophobic ideology’ driving riots, IHRC says

Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has urged the government and the criminal justice system to do more to tackle the xenophobic ideology driving far right violence on our streets.

In a letter sent to the Home Secretary and the 44 police forces in England and Wales today, the rights group warned that “the mob attacks on Muslims and other racialised communities are inspired by racism and must be tackled as such.”

“The authorities must not just confront the perpetrators of the violence but the demagogues such as Nigel Farage, Tommy Robinson, Laurence Fox and Katie Hopkins who are inciting mob violence should also be brought to book. They are playing the mood music that has whipped up the xenophobia that now sees the country gripped by racial conflict,” IHRC said.

It warned that adopting far right anti-immigrant rhetoric such as “Stop the boats” and “Asian grooming gangs” has “only emboldened the xenophobes to become more aggressive and pervasive.”

It highlighted how, following a statement by Tamworth MP Sarah Edwards on 30 July in which she said residents in her constituency “want their hotel back”, a reference to a Holiday Inn that is being used by the government to house asylum seekers, on Sunday, a raging, racist mob ransacked the hotel and attempted to set it on fire.

“The government must start to take the security of mosques and Muslim centres much more seriously. Better risk assessments need to be conducted and more robust security procedures put in place to reassure the community,” the group’s letter added.

SOURCE: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240807-uk-govt-police-must-to-do-more-to-tackle-xenophobic-ideology-driving-riots-ihrc-says/