Brexit fallout: Anti-migrant attacks surge in the UK - News from Al Jazeera

26.7.16

Brexit fallout: Anti-migrant attacks surge in the UK - News from Al Jazeera: In the aftermath of the vote, xenophobic and racist hate crimes surged by 57 percent, with the National Police Chief's Council saying it was the worst spike in British history. Eastern European migrants have been a particular target of such xenophobia. Polish community centres and shops have been vandalised, while stories of verbal abuse proliferate.

"Roma migrants tend to have the double whammy: they're not just Eastern European migrants, they're also Roma Eastern European migrants," says Shay Clipson, an advocate with the National Alliance of Gypsy, Traveller, and Roma Women.

"They may be Czech Roma, or Slovak Roma, but the other Czechs and Slovaks don't particularly like them either. Many are here because they are escaping persecution in their countries of origin. They are not just here to make a living, they are here so that they can live," says Clipson.

The Roma are the biggest ethnic minority in Europe, with a population of about 12 million living mostly in Eastern Europe, often in extreme poverty and subject to discrimination and segregation. A significant number moved to the UK after their countries of origin joined the EU in 2004.