UK 'criminalising minority groups'

Published on Saturday 27 June 2009 19:44

THE UK government's exploitation of the politics of fear has effectively criminalised entire communities, according to Scottish human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar.

Speaking at the Ethnic Minority Achievement Awards in Glasgow, Anwar said: "The fact that today's racism takes culture or religion as its raw materials does not make it any less real for its victims. Nick Griffin's BNP has been quick to understand this, and we must take on their arguments. But not by ... condemning the new communities as they arrive, whether they be Roma or Polish.

"This government has exploited the politics of fear by bringing in tougher anti-terror laws, cracking down on asylum-seekers. The result of stop and search is the criminalisation of entire communities. In many communities, there is a growing climate of fear.

"But I am tired of our the government lecturing on how my community has to integrate. I was born and bred in this country and am against violence, and do not have to apologise for each act of terror. I live and work in and walk in the same streets as the next person and am just as likely to be blown up by a terrorist bomb," Anwar said.