Bullying victim 'not surprised' by race report findings

Njambi Njoroge said that racist bullying in schools is "just something that you decide to accept"

A woman who experienced “relentless” bullying at school has said she is not surprised by a report that suggests almost half of ethnic minority students in Northern Ireland have been the victims of racist bullying and harassment.

Njambi Njoroge told BBC News NI that people come to her to tell her about their children facing similar experiences at school.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) report also highlighted concerns about a "significant recent increase" in racist attacks.

The watchdog specifically mentioned "firebombing against businesses owned by people with a migration background in Belfast".

Ms Njoroge, who is an artist and campaigner, is preparing to speak in one school to help teachers learn how to tackle the issue of bullying.

"Whenever I was in school I didn’t even feel the need to speak up about the racist experiences that I was having and that my friends were having. It’s just what happened to us," the 25-year-old artist and campaigner said.

"It’s just something that you decided to accept in school, because often times when you reports things like this, they’re not taken seriously.

"I personally don’t know if I can see myself raising my future family here."

The research has also recommended that teaching Black history and "Roma, 'Gypsy' and Traveller history or decolonisation" should be mandatory in schools.

'A scary movie'

Mohammed Bashir, whose shop was burnt down, said he no longer felt safe walking the streets

Mohammed Bashir is the manager of Sham Supermarket in Belfast, which was burnt down during the racist violence in August.

He said he no longer felt safe in Northern Ireland's streets.

"When I walk in the streets sometimes I watch my back all the time, wondering if I'm going back to my house safe," he said.

He said he now takes main streets "even if it’s longer to get to my house just to make sure that I'm fine".

Living like this has "really, really disappointed" him.

"I never thought that I will live in a horror or a scary movie like this every single day."

Confidential dialogue

The ECRI also said that there needed to be a national "LGBTI action plan" for Northern Ireland.

They recommended that Stormont should set up a "working group" to develop the action plan.

They recommended that "LGBTI issues" should be part of teacher training and that Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) should be mandatory for all pupils.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance is part of the Council of Europe, which has 47 members and was set up to promote democracy and human rights in Europe.

It is not part of the European Union.

Its latest report into racism and intolerance in the UK covers the period from 2018 to 2024.

The report's findings are based on a visit to Northern Ireland by members of the commission, "documentary analyses," and "confidential dialogue with the national authorities".

Police 'reportedly' reluctant to investigate

The ECRI's latest report into the UK includes frequent references to events in Northern Ireland.

It described "the appearance of an increasing number of anti-immigrant graffiti and signs [and] threats in Belfast," as a worrying development.

"It also emerged from meetings with civil society interlocutors during the visit that public threats targeting the Housing Executive and private landlords were made if they rent their properties to foreigners (or people perceived as such)," the report said.

The body also claimed that police had "reportedly" been reluctant to investigate racist attacks "effectively for fear of upsetting the fragile peace prevailing between different paramilitary groups".

"ECRI recommends that the relevant authorities, in particular the police and other criminal justice actors, carry out effective investigations into any cases of attacks against persons with a migration background and their properties in Northern Ireland and ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable," the report continued.

'Robust approach needed'

The ECRI said there were "18,356 children from migrant families enrolled in schools in Northern Ireland" in 2021/22, accounting for around five percent of all school enrolments.

"Over two fifths of ethnic minority students in Northern Ireland have reportedly been the victims of racist bullying and harassment," they said.

They advised that schools should "take a robust approach to the recording of racist and anti-LGBTI bullying incidents".

The ECRI added that there had been wider progress in the UK as a whole.

However, they said authorities in the UK should adopt an LGBTI action plan for England and make sure there was no gap in provision for refugees transferring from the asylum system to mainstream systems of support.