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Concerns
have been expressed about an increase in racism in
Swansea after the murder of an Iraqi Kurd.
But community leaders say they are keen to put the
death of Kalan Kawa Karim in context.
Swansea Race Equality Council said it was worried by
a rise in incidents as well as unreported cases, but
said that the city was no different to anywhere
else.
Mr Karim, 29, died after being punched in the city
centre this week.
Mr Karim, who friends say fled Iraq after being
tortured under Saddam Hussein's regime, died in
hospital.
He had been out for a pizza with a friend when he
was attacked shortly after 0130 BST on Monday in
Kingsway.
His uncle, Tahseen Shaho, said he and his family
have experienced other racist incidents since making
their home in Swansea.
The dead man's best friend, Sarkat Junaid, said:
"This not the first incident that's happened, it's
been continually happening and no-one is taking care
of this problem."
Swansea Race Equality Council said there had been an
increase in reported racist incidents over the past
few months, following a general trend which it said
had seen incidents treble since 11 September, 2001.
Director Taha Idris said he had been worried by the
last quarterly figures he had seen for incidents in
the city.
"It's not just reported incidents, there are those
that go unreported, I'm speaking to people all the
time who have suffered some sort of abuse."
He said issues involving asylum seekers and refugees
were used as "excuses for bigots to express their
views and their actions".
"We've got to get to the stage where people must
come forward to report it and if capable, challenge.
I'm not expecting people when facing a couple of
thugs to challenge them, but be prepared to report
it."
But Mr Idris also said that the murder and the
low-level racism had to be put in context.
"Swansea is not better or worse than anywhere else,"
he said. "I've lived in Swansea for 32 years, I like
living here, it's a lovely city with friendly people
- a lot of good work goes on."
That view is echoed by the Welsh Refugee Council,
whose chief executive David Farnsworth said Mr
Karim's death had to be put in context.
Positive experience
"I was speaking to two men last week from the Iraqi
Kurdish Community in Swansea," he said.
"They liked the welcome in the city and the people
in the city. That's not to say they have not
experienced racism but they had a very positive
experience in Swansea.
"I have actually used Swansea as an example of best
practice in the way that the host community and
community arriving have actually joined together and
worked together.
"I think there is some good stuff going on in
Swansea but it does not belie the fact that there is
low-level racism."
South Wales Police described Monday's attack as an
isolated incident and say they had never had to deal
with such a severe case in Swansea before.
'Unfair judgement'
Inspector Jane Mackay of the force's Minority
Support Unit said there had been 128 racist
incidents reported in Swansea in the four months
since April this year, compared to 126 reported in
the same period last year.
"These statistics are discussed widely with our
partner agencies and the local community race
relations group," said Ms Mackay.
"With the support of community leaders and community
groups we are continually working to encourage
people to report racist incidents."
Peter Black, a Swansea councillor and Liberal
Democrat AM for South West Wales, said: "I don't
think there is any doubt at all that there is racism
in Swansea," he said.
"However, I think if you were to brand Swansea a
racist city that would be an unfair judgement and
one I would not go along with.
"Since Swansea has started receiving asylum seekers
we have noticed there has been an increase in racial
abuse and comments.
"I think that is because people do not understand
the issue but also because they are being led to
believe certain things about these communities that
are simply not true.
"I think you do have to get this into perspective,
as the police said this is the first incident of
this severity that has happened in Swansea.
"We are generally a very welcoming city. We've
accepted a lot of refugees into our city and we
treat them with respect."
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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