RACISM in Northern Ireland (NI) has increased post-Brexit, reveals a new study report by the Equality Commission.
It examines the “actual, perceived, and potential socio-economic impacts of Brexit on minority ethnic and migrant people in Northern Ireland” and emphasises how minority communities believe that Brexit has increased racism.
The report, which was put together by the public policy think tank Pivotal, demonstrates how racism is “a normal part of day-to-day life” for many people in Northern Ireland, with women being “particularly exposed” to racist attitudes.
The report’s evidence summary reads: “There was a widespread perception that Brexit had led to an increase in the expression of racism in Northern Ireland, which some suggested had been made worse by media coverage.
“Some participants described an increase in open expressions of racism, and some from white European backgrounds described experiencing racism for the first time.”
The research looked at Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) statistics on incidents involving people of colour and discovered a “sharp increase in racist crime” starting in 2020, which has now surpassed reports of sectarian hate crimes.
The study comes after Amnesty International highlighted a four per cent increase in the PSNI’s use of stop and search authority in 2022/23.
Although the most recent Census data shows that ethnic minorities make up just 3.4 per cent of the population in the north, out of the 23,650 persons stopped and searched between April 2022 and March of this year, 5.5 per cent were from ethnic minority backgrounds.
In the recent Equality Commission study, respondents “described experiences of racial profiling by the Borders and Immigration Agency and by the PSNI,” including how officials “singled out black people at airports and on cross-border bus journeys and detained them for questioning”.
“One of the strongest messages in the study was that racism has become a feature of day-to-day life for some minority ethnic and migrant people,” the report states.
“Participants felt that they had to accept racism as part of living in Northern Ireland. The racism experienced felt ‘normalised’ and tolerated in order to live here.”
Equality Commission chief commissioner Geraldine McGahey said the belief by participants that racism was something they felt forced to accept to live in NI was “disturbing”.
“We know racism is not new to Northern Ireland, and its impact is devastating,” she said.
“We’ve also been meeting with people from ethnic minorities and their support organisations across Northern Ireland to hear first-hand about their experiences of living here and the issues they face because of their race. These have been tough sessions with some very difficult stories being shared.
“Let me be clear, racism is never acceptable, not now, not ever.”
She added: “The findings of this research report and our ongoing work with the sector make for uncomfortable truths. Our society appears to have developed an acceptable level of prejudice towards some ethnic minority and migrant people living here. This is unacceptable.”
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