Read our public statement about the Stop Anti-Asian Hate Rally
The Monitoring Group has a credible track record, stretching over four decades, of challenging racism and its causes. Over the pandemic period, we have witnessed a spike in hate crimes against people of Asian heritage especially those from East, South East and South Asia.
According to a recent YouGov poll into racism, people from Chinese backgrounds living in the UK are more exposed to racist comments than any other community in Britain. It found that some 76 percent of ethnic Chinese questioned said they had experienced someone using a racial slur directly against them on at least one occasion. 60 percent said that it had happened to them multiple times, much higher than the average These findings were made public last year, at a time when the British establishment was being forced to acknowledge its history of colonialism and modern-day manifestations of state racism and violence. The findings confirm a worrying trend that was started during the BREXIT referendum. It found that 84 percent of BAME people interviewed thought that racism has become more prevalent and indeed become worst in the UK, with nearly two in three (64 percent) saying they are treated differently because of their ethnicity or origin. People from ethnic Chinese backgrounds are more likely than any other minority group to report hearing someone imitate their accent or make negative assumptions about their behaviour based on their ethnicity. A Sky news survey painted the same picture – a rise of 29% in hate crimes against Chinese and South and East Asian communities in that period. Last year, the United Nations expressed concern over what it called "a tsunami of hate and xenophobia" unleashed by the pandemic warning that some government leaders were helping to fan the flames by employing anti-Chinese rhetoric”.
The Monitoring Group has been dealing with racism – day in and day out - for over 40 years and we have worked within the Chinese and South East Asian communities systematically for over two decades – our figures over the last year show a spike in racially motivated hate incidents of over 500% - the main trigger for this increase is the xenophobic statements by politicians and the media – our cases incidents of verbal abuse graffiti, threats while queuing for food at supermarkets, physical assaults on the streets, city centres, schools and university campuses; criminal damage of businesses and arson attacks. There is also a particular trend that is worrying as illustrated by incidents where Chinese and East Asian women are targeted with racial abuse and sexual slurs – an appalling incident where a Japanese woman was greeted by Ne How (Hello in Chinese), suffered sexual exposure and was then urinated upon by three men as she tried to pass them.
Last Saturday, 27 November 2021, we organised an anti-racist rally in London’s Chinatown. Our event was supported by community-based organisations embedded in the locality, and attended by over 50 people.
The purpose of the event was simple: to challenge the spike in ‘anti-Asian hate’ and to be vigilant on the dangers of the emerging new cold war and its adverse impact of ordinary citizens especially those with Asian heritage.
Our peaceful rally concluded around 3.30pm.
Soon after we witnessed group violence, an event that never occurred in any of our previous meetings on racism since the middle 1980’s. A group of 20 individuals, purporting to support Hong Kong independence, had organised a counter protest against our peaceful rally. Over the previous week, there were attempts to sabotage our event as well as threats of disruption.
Please read our statement HERE
Our statement is based on what many of us witnessed on the day. We will keep everyone information as more information comes to light. For further information, please contact Suresh Grover office@tmg-uk.org