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UK police called to Tube racist incidents 4 times per week

Racist attacks on London Tube are reportedly on the rise. (file photo)

British police have on average tackled four racist incidents on London’s trains and Tube every week over the past three years.

The incidents on London’s rail network include racist attacks, abuse and graffiti.

Figures show over 650 racist incidents have been reported to police since 2013, but only 13 arrests were made following investigations.

The figures were released to London Evening Standard, under the Freedom of Information Act.

London Travel Watch says the city's next mayor will need to tackle racism as a priority, considering the scale of the problem.

British Transport Police said the only way to deal with the issue was to understand its “true scale.”

“Any crime or incident of anti-social behavior, which is motivated by hatred, is particularly abhorrent and British Transport Police is working hard to drive such behavior from the railway,” the Evening Standard quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying.

“Part of this drive is encouraging victims, and those who witness crimes, to report them to police.”

A late January report revealed that racial hate crimes on Britain’s railway networks have risen by 37% in the past five years. This means an average of more than five reported incidents of abuse or harassment a day.

According to the report by the British transport police (BTP), covering railway services in England, Scotland and Wales, including London underground, recorded 1,993 hate crimes in 2015, an average of 5.5 per day. The crimes have been racially or religiously motivated.

The report also noted that excluding incidents where the race of the victim was not stated, more than three-quarters of incidents recorded in 2015 involved non-white victims: 36% were perpetrated against black victims, 33% against those of Asian origin, 3% involved mixed-race victims and 3.5% were against those of another race.


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