Racism on Rise after UK Referendum on EU Membership

The United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union (EU) after voting in a June 2016 referendum has recently led to a rise in racist attacks against immigrants in the country.

According to data published by the UK's National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) on Aug. 31, racist attacks increased sharply by 58 percent within a month after the referendum.

With an estimated population of 450,000, Bristol is the most populous city in southern England after London. Immigrants and their descendants account for 16 percent of Bristol's population.

Mohammed, 22, immigrated from Somalia to the UK with his family in 2007. The family has 12 people, but only three of them are working, while the rest of them live on social welfare in Bristol.

On the first day that they moved into a local neighborhood, they became the target of racial hatred.

"The one, the first word, they were supposed to say 'hello, how are you,' but they said, 'you're not welcomed to this neighborhood, and you're not about this community. So get out from our community.' That's when it started. A couple of hours later, there was a guy just knocking at the door, trying to hit my little brother, he is 3 years old. All the neighbors came out. They were supposed to tell him to get off of our property. But they encouraged him to go inside our property," said Mohammed.

Mohammed said his family were attacked by racists more frequently just around the time of the referendum.

"My mother was on sort of on the side of a road, the pavement. And there was a car on the road and it came onto the pavement, and started chasing her. They haven't came across something as that situation," said Mohammed.

They were able to move from the neighborhood under the help of a non-governmental organization called Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI).

"Say in a predominately white British area, that's where we will find the hotspots. So when they see these differences, they have a hatred, or have an instant dislike to these people because of their differences. And what we do is we will attempt to move a BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) family from this area to a diverse area, avoiding the problem," said Andrew, a SARI staff member.

Now, Mohammed and his family have been accommodated in a three-story residential building, spacious and safe enough for all them.

Like many other immigrants, Mohammed's family are not willing to face the media and are reluctant to report the racist attacks to the police in fear of more retaliations.