Canberra’s ethnic leaders want tougher action on racism | Canberra weather
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The pandemic has caused an increase in racist abuse in Canberra, according to leaders of the various ethnic groups in ACT. Among the incidents they cite are: “Canberra is a very peaceful place, but sometimes when racism lifts its ugly head, it’s really bad,” said Chin Wong of the Australian Chinese Association of the United States. ‘ACT. “We have suffered racial abuse over and over again, verbal abuse. Sometimes it’s really bad.” Our businesses are attacked by people who behave badly. , argues that racism is not tackled with sufficient vigor by the police or the ACT Human Rights Commission. They believe that this is a hidden problem that needs to be exposed. They say sometimes abusers can be easily caught – like a tenant in a “It’s a problem but nobody is talking about it,” said Marial Kot, head of the South Sudanese Association. “We feel like second-class citizens.” There are many people who suffer in silence. Children are threatened at school. The group wrote to the Human Rights Commission, which the chiefs say ethnicities, is not active enough to go to the communities to find out what is going on. ”We don’t want them to just sit there and wait for us to go to them. We want them to come into the communities and find out what’s going on, “Kot said. The cause was taken up by ACT’s shadow minister for multicultural affairs, Giulia Jones.” Some people in our community. experience occasional, but very personally painful and damaging attacks because of their race or ethnicity, “Ms. Jones said. Community worker Vikas Sharma is setting up an online site for people to register abuse and attacks. ”The important thing to do first is to recognize that racism exists here. We can’t just put it under the rug, “he said. The Human Rights Commission said,” Takes complaints about racism seriously, recognizing how harsh racism is on individuals , their families, friends and communities. the community of Canberra. “A police statement said,” ACT police receive a small number of reports of offenses which may be racially motivated. All of these reports are taken seriously. ”The main crime would be“ serious defamation ”, which occurs when a person“ incites hatred, serious contempt or ridicule of a person or a group of persons ”because of his or her race, sexuality or gender. Penalty is fines of up to $ 8,000. Our reporters work hard to provide local and up-to-date news to the community. Here’s how you can continue to access our content from confidence :
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The pandemic has caused an increase in racist abuse in Canberra, according to leaders of the various ethnic groups in ACT.
Among the incidents they cite are:
- Stones thrown at the windows of a building;
- Calling people of Indian descent “curried dog” and worse;
- Chinese are being yelled at as carriers of COVID; and
- Frequent use of foul language and insults.
“Canberra is a very peaceful place, but sometimes when racism raises its ugly head it’s really bad,” said Chin Wong of ACT’s Chinese Australian Association.
“We have experienced racial abuse over and over again, verbal abuse. Sometimes it’s really bad.
“Our businesses are attacked by people who behave badly.”
The group, which covers people from many parts of Africa, South America and Asia, says racism is not sufficiently tackled by the police or the Human Rights Commission. ACT.
They feel that this is a hidden problem that needs to be highlighted.
They say that sometimes abusers can be easily caught – like a tenant in a building yelling racial slurs at another resident.
“It’s a problem but nobody is talking about it,” said Marial Kot, head of the South Sudanese Association.
“We feel like second-class citizens.
“There are a lot of people who suffer in silence. Children are threatened at school.
The group wrote to the Human Rights Commission, which ethnic leaders say is not active enough to visit communities to find out what is going on.
“We don’t want them to just sit there and wait for us to go to them. We want them to come into the communities and find out what’s going on,” Kot said.
The cause was taken up by ACT’s shadow minister for multicultural affairs, Giulia Jones.
“Some people in our community experience occasional but very personally painful and damaging attacks because of their race or ethnicity,” Ms. Jones said.
Community worker Vikas Sharma is setting up an online site for people to record abuse and attacks.
“The important thing to do first is to recognize that racism exists here. We cannot just put it under the rug,” he said.
The Human Rights Commission said: “Takes complaints about racism seriously, recognizing how distressing racism is to individuals, their families, friends and communities.
“The commission looks forward to working with community members to ensure that its complaints process is accessible to everyone in the Canberra community. “
A police statement read: “ACT Policing receives a small number of reports of offenses which may be racially motivated. All of these reports are taken seriously. “
The main crime is said to be “grave defamation”, which occurs when a person “incites hatred, serious contempt or ridicule of a person or a group of persons” because of their race, sexuality. or his gender.
The penalty is a fine of up to $ 8,000.
Our journalists work hard to provide local and up-to-date news to the community. Here’s how you can continue to access our trusted content: