Lancaster students highlight ‘rise’ in attacks and abuse
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Anti-Jewish and other types of racist abuse has been directed at students from different European, Chinese and Asian backgrounds, which one student said was unlike anything he had experienced in the past three years.
One student even warned that someone could be killed, after one alleged incident involving 18 people, where seven allegedly carried weapons.
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Hide AdAnother said abuse was hurled at students during a recent protest against the invasion of Ukraine.
Allegations range from physical attacks and verbal abuse to theft, damage and trespassing on student homes.
Perpetrators are said to range from gangs of young teenagers to groups of older men. Some have worn masks and carry, or claim to carry, weapons such as a rubber baseball bat or knives.
Lancaster is home to thousands of students from the UK and overseas and has two main sites at Lancaster University and the University of Cumbria.
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Hide AdThe joint letter to Lancaster City Council has been signed by more than 50 students and organisations, including the Jewish Society.
Student testimonies include:
*A group of male students being attacked by teenagers and young men while walking home at night. One student was hit with a rubber baseball. The attackers also claimed to be carrying knives. One student stated: “We believe these young men were on the street that day to beat people. No one carries a rubber baseball bat for self defence.”
*A male student being punched, kicked and hit with a glass bottle late at night after coming across a group of men who had been thrown out of a city centre club.
*Two female students being assaulted and ‘chased’ in the day near the market, where young teenagers threw balls at them and humiliated them.
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Hide Ad*Student homes being attacked by teenagers throwing stones, with one student’s windows being damaged
*Trespassers entering the courtyard at a student home, where they smoked cannabis and made racist and sexual insults to students. On that occasion, they later apologised, students say.
*A student house being broken into with a knife left on a staircase, theft and attempted break-ins on other student rooms.
Painting a picture of rising hostility, the joint letter states: “We had noticed similar aggressive behaviour in the previous months. During the protest against the Ukraine invasion, a group of even younger men was shouting offensive slurs intentionally to a group of people, some of whom had their homes destroyed by air strikes. Another time, a group of 12 to 15-year-olds shouted anti-Semitic slurs at students on campus.”
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Hide AdLabour councillor Oliver Robinson, who is also president of Lancaster University Students’ Union, raised the issue at the latest full meeting of Lancaster City Council.
The council has links to various authorities including Lancashire Police. They are also part of a Community Safety Partnership which tackles issues including crime and anti-social behaviour.
At the meeting, Coun Robinson said: “I am raising concerns about residents who have been assaulted. They have also suffered anti-Semitic and racially-charged slurs. The letter details a raft of incidents going back over the past few months. There is a feeling that the issue is getting quite bad.”