The number of hate crimes carried out against Chinese people in the United Kingdom have increased exponentially during the current pandemic. The latest Police data shows that at least 267 offences were recorded in the first three months of 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis, including assaults, robberies, harassment and criminal damage.
Among the most common harassment report, Chinese victims were punched, spat at and coughed on in the street as well as being verbally abused about coronavirus after the first case was reported in China.
Jonathan Mok, a student from Singapore, said he was attacked by people who said: ‘I don’t want your coronavirus’
According to an analysis by Sky News, the rate of hate crimes against Chinese people between January and March was nearly three times that of the previous two years, based on police data.
Even healthcare professionals, who were working on the frontline, faced discrimination – both from patients but also from colleagues. Jeremy Wu, a Chinrse nurse, was reportedlyasked: “Why not go back to your country with your virus?” I havve cried before I go to sleep, I feel so alone because there’s no one I can talk to about this sensitive issue.”
Jeremy Wu compared the relation of the pandemic to a certain group of people to the situation faced by the LGBT community which was accused of links with HIV in the Eighties.
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