UK police fails to take action against hate crime suspects: Report

A new report has shown that majority of hate crimes committed on UK railways go unnoticed with authorities failing to take actions against a majority of the suspects.

News ID: 442675

Date: 27 December 2018 - 21:36

RNA - The report published on the website of the Guardian Newspaper on Tuesday said that the British Transport Police (BTP) ignored abandoned investigation into almost three-quarter of hate crimes reported in the trains and other rail facilities across the UK over the past three years.

The report said a total of 9,407 hate crimes were reported across the rail network between 2015 and the end of May 2018 and police only took action against a tiny portion of the suspects, around 25 percent.

It said almost 40 percent if the hate crimes reported to the BTP in the three-year period did not result in prosecution only because there were no traces of the suspects.

The findings come amid a clear surge in the number of hate crimes committed across the UK. Rights groups have been concerned that hate crimes committed against ethnic groups, especially against the Muslims who form a large community in Britain, have been on rise in the recent time.

According to Press TV, many blame the surge on far-right and nationalist groups who have gained a foothold in the UK over the past years thanks to a campaign for Britain to leave the European Union as well as the general rise in anti-immigration sentiments in the country. Politicians have also been blamed as many of them seek closer bond to the far-right groups to win more votes.

The BTP said the overall number of hate crimes committed on the rail network in Britain over the past five years had increased by more than 80 percent to reach more than 61,000 cases.

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