“Victims are being let down” and “there is a feeling gardaí won’t do anything about this” as attacks on foreign nationals are on the rise, a Dublin councillor has warned, reports Breaking News.
Several assaults targeting members of the Indian community have made headlines in recent weeks, including a man who was stripped and stabbed by a gang, and a six-year-old girl who was injured while riding her bike near her home.
Numerous similar cases have been reported, sparking fears that misinformation spread online may be fueling the violence, reports Breaking News.
Speaking to BreakingNews.ie, Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose said: “People are very scared. It is important to say that this is not new\… it’s been going on for a long time. It has been highlighted more, and people are more aware of others’ experiences. People who may have thought this was an isolated incident on them are realising that it’s not, and that others have had similar experiences. Since Covid it has got increasingly bad, the hatred towards migrants, anti-social behaviour and violence in general has worsened. These attacks are targeting vulnerable people. You have these far-right influencers online stirring this kind of hatred and using teenagers to do their bidding,” reports Breaking News.
Cllr Jose, aged 27, moved to Ireland from India with his family at the age of nine. He said his family and friends are growing increasingly anxious for his wellbeing.
He explained that he refuses to restrict his movements, saying that doing so would make it impossible to serve his constituents in Phibsboro, Glasnevin, Drumcondra, Cabra and Ashtown.
“My own parents are telling me not to go out at night, not to walk alone, and I can’t do that working as a public representative, I have to do my job. I can’t change or not do things I have to do because of this. People are worried, there was a similar feeling of fear after the Dublin riots… a sense of vulnerability. I have heard from people who have changed their behaviour, have stopped going for a run, to the park, staying in after a certain time. We’re also hearing stories of people just leaving Ireland,” reports Breaking News.
Cllr Jose said he has been contacted by people who experienced racist abuse or assaults but don’t feel that gardaí are responding adequately, while others are too frightened to report their experiences.
“There are so many incidents we don’t hear of, incidents that are not reported. I remember the gardaí saying there had been no increase in attacks on migrants at one point, but do they have any idea how many go unreported? That is something they should try to measure. I’ve had people who get harassed or intimidated, almost every week. When I ask them if they’d like to speak with the media they say no because they’re afraid it will put them more at risk. I’m hearing of people who go in to make a report and are discouraged from doing so. Putting yourself out there is a big risk so I understand why people may not want to, why they sometimes keep it to themselves and move on,” reports Breaking News.
“I’m always encouraging people to go in and report these incidents, make a statement, even if there’s no CCTV or they don’t think it will go anywhere, at the very least people won’t be able to say this isn’t happening. It’s a small number of people doing a lot of damage, spreading a lot of violence and fear,” reports Breaking News.
Although racial assaults have attracted significant media attention, Cllr Jose stressed that “victims are being let down”.
“I still haven’t heard of any charges coming out of these incidents. Overall I think the reponse is quite poor, I think victims are being let down. I’ve heard of far too many cases where someone is attacked and after calling the local Garda station, they are told to fob them off. I’ve also heard of people who went into the Garda station and been told nothing can be done,” reports Breaking News.
“It’s happening all too often. I tell people to go into the Garda station after incidents like this, insist on making a statement and don’t leave the station until that’s done,” reports Breaking News.
He continued: “I know there were statements from the gardaí saying they were taking these incidents very seriously… but then when you have victims trying to report it and the Garda at the desk not taking it seriously, there’s a clear split there between what Garda management is saying to the media and the experience of people. There is a feeling that gardaí will not do anything about this, and with the conviction record you can understand why people think that. We need investment in youth resources to divert them from these actions, it’s no coincidence these types of attacks flare up in the summer. You need to divert them from crime, but also to catch and punish those who take part in this violence. It’s the same playbook across the world, accuse migrants of some form of indecent behaviour, and make up a cover to intimidate and attack them. This is being learned from other far-right and racist groups online from across Europe and across the US,” reports Breaking News.
He also criticised how Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan handled the issue.
“My criticism of the Minister for Justice was about three weeks after these attacks were higlighted in the media, the demonstrations had taken place, he hadn’t said a word. He first spoke last week, Simon Harris and the President had issued statements. The embassy in New Delhi had issued a statement before the Minister for Justice, that was damning. Our minister who is responsibole for crime, safety and law reform… and Jim O’Callaghan is not shy of a microphone,” reports Breaking News.
“It’s all well and good the Tánaiste setting up meetings with people… he’s not the one dealing with this. It’s not a diplomatic or foreign affairs issue, it’s an issue for the Minister for Justice and it took him three weeks to say something. The fact the President of Ireland had issued a statement before the line minister… it’s shocking,” reports Breaking News.
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