Al Jazeera :
The United Nations committee responsible for combatting racism has slammed the United Kingdom over continuing hate crimes, hate speech and xenophobic incidents, following riots fuelled by hate and misinformation that gripped the country this summer.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said on Friday it was concerned by the presence of racist speech on various platforms, particularly where perpetuated by politicians and public figures. The committee also issued its findings on Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Venezuela, after reviewing them in its latest session.
CERD said in a statement that it was “particularly concerned about recurring racist acts and violence against ethnic and ethno-religious minorities, migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers by extremist far-right and white supremacist individuals and groups”, including the violence that took place in July and August.
Riots and unrest fuelled by xenophobia and misinformation surrounding the tragic killing of three girls in a stabbing incident swept across the country in more than a week of violence that saw about 600 people arrested.
Protests by far-right groups escalated into clashes with police in multiple towns, which saw hotels housing asylum seekers torched and mosques and businesses run by ethnic and religious minorities attacked.