#PostRefRacism: Knives stuck in Muslim family’s lawn, racist graffiti scrawled on door
Racist vandals scrawled ‘Muslims are scum’ on a refugee family’s front door in Cardiff, Wales, on Wednesday night, and left knives stabbed in their lawn. The chilling vandalism and implied threat come amid a spike in post Brexit referendum hate crime.
A large knife and a medium sized one were found wedged into the ground, along with the racial abuse painted in red on the door. Onions were also apparently thrown at the windows, Wales Online reports.
The Egyptian family of six moved into their new home in the Llanedeyrn neighborhood in April, and have been subjected to constant threats both verbally and physically ever since.
A refugee family in Cardiff has had "Muslims are scum" painted on their front door and knives stuck in their lawn https://t.co/EPOXXI1432
— WalesOnline (@WalesOnline) July 7, 2016
The father of the family told Wales Online his oldest son had been dragged off his bike by two children and his wife had been called names like “Muslim raghead” and had the f-word used against her.
He said he is appalled at the magnitude of racist hatred they are subjected to and that the family feel apprehensive about stepping outside, to the extent they feel imprisoned in their own home.
“We are very scared. My children are frightened of going outside. Our house is like a prison,” he said.
The matter is under investigation by South Wales Police, which said such crimes are taken very seriously.
Aliya Mohammed, chief executive of Race Equality First, told local media: “This case is horrible and shocking. We have been astounded and shocked at the level of racism that was hidden before. We have had a huge rise in racist attacks being reported to us.”
The incident comes amid a shocking spike in reported hate crimes across the UK in the wake of the Brexit referendum, particularly crimes fueled by racism.
Rising hate crime was in evidence in the UK prior to the referendum, but the vote to leave the European Union on July 6 seems to have propelled the scale of attacks and abuse, and expanded the pool of victims to all minority groups.
Within a week of the referendum result being announced, 599 incidents of hate crime were reported to Scotland Yard.
In London alone, there was a 50-percent rise, with four of the top five days of highest recorded hate crime in the city falling in the week immediately following the vote.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says there is an obvious connection between the surge in hate crime and the referendum. He believes the way to tackle the problem is by reporting hate crimes to the police.
“I suffered race crime before when I was younger and didn’t report it. You’ve got to report it. The police want to hear from you,” he said.
