Sharp rise in ethnic victims of crime in the Lothians

Published on Monday 23 July 2007 12:37

ONE in 18 victims of crime in Lothian and Borders is from ethnic minority backgrounds, according to new police figures.

Crimes against people from ethnic minorities made up 5.5 per cent of the total 68,435 victims in the region last year.

Lothian and Borders Police covers an area with a lower ethnic minority make-up than Strathclyde, but only 4.5 per cent of victims in and around Glasgow were from non-white backgrounds.

In Glasgow, around five per cent of residents are Asian, Black or Chinese compared with about four per cent in Edinburgh.

The new figures come just four months after it was revealed racist attacks have nearly doubled in Edinburgh during the past two years - the highest rise in Scotland. But the high proportion of victims from ethnic minority communities is in relation to all crime and not just racially aggravated crime. It is thought the higher rate may be partly due to socio-economic factors. The latest statistics also indicate the number of people from ethnic minorities who are either victims or perpetrators of crime has increased in recent years.

In Lothian and Borders, the number of offenders has increased from 1226 in 2003 to 3146 in the past 12 months, although this is thought to be partly due to the increasing size of the minority ethnic community and an overall growth in numbers.

Morag Patrick, senior policy officer for the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) in Scotland, said: "Crime is a worry for everybody, but no individual should be more likely to experience it just because of their ethnicity.

"These figures provide yet more illustration of why the new Scottish Executive needs to prioritise the delivery of racial equality across all areas of Scottish life."

Scotland has the fastest-growing migrant population in the UK. Between 1991 and 2001, Scotland's foreign-born population rose by 34 per cent, compared with 29 per cent in England.

All eight police forces in Scotland are required to monitor ethnic minority victims and perpetrators, yet only five provided up-to-date figures. Based on these statistics, people of ethnic minority backgrounds are more than twice as likely to be victims of crime as others. Nationally, one in 20 victims of crime are from ethnic minorities, despite the fact they make up just one in 50 of Scotland's total population.

In March, ethnic minority community leaders in Edinburgh said race attacks were increasing after being fuelled by terrorist atrocities carried out by Muslims.

The high student population in the Capital, the city's large ethnic community and the recent influx of Polish workers which has seen more than 25,000 come to Edinburgh, were cited as other factors behind the increase.