Racial violence moves to towns and villages of Britain, says IRR report

London, June 26 (ANI): Violence emerging out of racism has created a tense situation in towns and villages in Britain, while inner city areas that were once hotbeds of racial violence are now more "at ease" with diversity, says a new report.

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) researchers have analysed 660 racist attacks across Britain last year and found growing evidence to suggest that violence against minorities has shifted to rural areas and towns.

According to The Independent, the IRR has said that hatred and bigotry had spread in less than a generation to such an extent, that the mainstream political parties are competing with one another over which could cut immigration the fastest.

The changing picture is a result of asylum seekers, migrant workers, overseas students and the movement of settled ethnic minority families.

"What has emerged is that the map of violence has changed quite dramatically since studies were first done of such violence in the 1970s," the report said.

The report also states that at least 89 identifiably racist murders have taken place in Britain since Stephen Lawrence was killed while waiting for a bus in Eltham, south London, in 1993, an average of five a year.

Of the victims, 39 were Asian, 25 were black, four were white British and three were white eastern Europeans.

Lee Bridges, who analysed official crime statistics for the report, found that while racist attacks had decreased in London over the past decade, they have dramatically risen in proportion elsewhere.

In 1999-2000, London recorded 23,401 racist incidents, 49 per cent of the national total.

By 2007-2008, the number had dropped to 9,866, a 58 per cent reduction.

Last year, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Thames Valley and Lancashire accounted for 28 per cent of the national total, a 103 per cent increase on 10 years ago. (ANI)