Image by Belfast Asian Women’s Academy

The Belfast Asian Women’s Academy (BAWA) is made up of women from Asia who have now made Belfast their home.

These women live and work in the city, and in their spare time, run sporting and cultural projects in conjunction with local women’s groups to allow a shared experience. They have also made a significant contribution to the local community, providing scrubs to the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust along with food and other donations to homeless and vulnerable families.

However, things took a sharp turn when one of the BAWA members, living in the South Belfast area was subjected to a racially motivated hate crime. On Saturday morning, her husband’s car wing mirror was damaged, a traffic cone was placed on top of the car and side of the car was scratched. This is not an isolated incident. Previously eggs and bags containing rubbish were thrown inside the boundary of the house.

Ana Chandran, Director and Chair of BAWA, said that she is deeply concern with the handling of this matter by Police Service of northern Ireland (PSNI). She said, “Hate crime can impact the victims emotional and mental well-being and I am disappointed that our member did not get the right support she needed at the time.

“If incidents of hate crimes are reported to the PSNI and they are not taken seriously, trust is eroded, and this is difficult to rebuild.

“Our member and her children are now traumatised by these events, and frightened to go out of the house and is currently receiving support from BAWA. Questions have to be asked.

“What has to happen to ensure these unprovoked racist attacks cease?

“Is this just another “incident”? Another statistic?

“What can be done to ensure this doesn’t happen again?”

Andy George, President of the National Black Police Association supports BAWA and will be raising this incident with the PSNI Service Lead for Hate Crime. He said, “The Police Service NI must be aware of the impact and isolation ethnic minority communities feel when targeted repeatedly due to their race. Race hate crime continues to be the highest hate crime category and tackling it must remain a priority for the service.”