Foreigners residing in Birmingham have revealed an increase in verbal racist attacks since June 21st the UK voted to leave the European Union.
These facts coincide with reports recently published that shows how race and religious hate crimes in Wales and England rose just one month after the referendum.
This information, released by the National Police Chiefs Council, shows an increase of 42% on these incidents in the last year: from 3,886 crimes logged in July 2015 to 5,468 in July this year.
Tussi Alonso, a Spanish student at the University of Birmingham, has been involved in these kinds of attacks.
“The other day I was taking money from a cash machine, and at the same time I was speaking by phone with a Spanish friend. And suddenly two guys behind me start to tell me `move on f***ing Spanish´. I pretended that I didn´t listen and I left. I was scared, I´ve never thought before to move here that people will behave like that.
Another foreign resident, who has not wanted to reveal identity nor nationality, has admitted how he was public humiliated just one day before the referendum, when he was working in a well-known clothes shop in the center.
After dealing with the refund of a dissatisfied customer, her and other customers started to yell him inside the shop repeating “what is wrong with you? Don´t you understand us or what? You are in England, start to speak English properly!”
Other incidents mentioned include being insulted on the street or deny their entrance to a pub or bar after showing where they come from.
Some associations like Stand Up to Racism or Socialist Worker Party” have been protesting against this situation, claiming for political solutions.
A member of the Socialist Worker Party in Birmingham said:
“Tory politics are just creating a wave of racism in all the country and after the Referendum the situation is getting even worse, above all for refugees.”
Birmingham was one of the cities where residents voted to leave with a 50.4%, with the proportion voting to leave being even higher in some of the poorest areas of the West Midlands, like Dudley, with a 68% .
In the case of suffering or being the witness of a hate attack, West Midlands Police count with an advice center , with all the procedure that you will need to follow if you want to report any of these aggressions.
