No action plan or budget undermined NI racism strategy - review

The review of Northern Ireland's Racial Equality Strategy expressed concern about a "lack of understanding between established communities and new arriving communities"

A Stormont strategy to tackle hate crime and racism has been undermined by the lack of an action plan and budget.

That is according to a just-published review of the Northern Ireland Executive's 10-year Racial Equality Strategy.

The review - carried out for Stormont by the head of the Scottish Refugee Council, Dr Sabir Zazai - expressed concern about "the lack of understanding between the established communities in Northern Ireland and the new arriving communities".

"Building an equal society needs investment, time, and meticulous planning," Dr Zazai added.

Stormont's Racial Equality Strategy for 2015 to 2025 aimed to eradicate hate crime and racism, while promoting good relations.

In a published response, The Executive Office (TEO) said it "noted the reviewer's calls to action, with some recommendations having already been or recently implemented".

"TEO is committed to building a society in which racial equality and diversity is supported," its response continued.

It also said the majority of actions in the strategy had been completed and that the number of staff working on it had increased.

Despite Dr Zazai's review being completed on 24 March last year, it was only published by The Executive Office on 23 December.

Last September, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said figures showed reported race hate crimes may have risen by about a third in the previous 12 months - an increase that would amount to more than 400 incidents.

It also accepted there was a fear factor around reporting race hate crimes.

Dr Sabir Zazai said a future Racial Equality Strategy needed to have more input from people with "lived experience"

Dr Zazai, who came to the UK as an asylum seeker from Afghanistan in 1999 and was awarded an OBE in 2022, told BBC News NI it had been a "privilege" to meet many people working to build bridges in Northern Ireland.

But he said any "strategy is (only) as good as the actual actions being taken".

"There are resources invested but not clearly aligned to a strategy," he continued.

Dr Zazai praised Northern Ireland as a "fantastic place" that had "opened doors to people from other conflicts, fleeing, seeking protection and safety".

However, he said the absence of a power-sharing government at Stormont for a number of years had "created a bit of a governance and political vacuum for racial equality to be supported in that period".

He also said there had not been enough input from people with "lived experience" and that should be included in any new strategy from 2025 onwards.

The civil servant who drafted the 2015 strategy, Kenneth Fraser, previously told BBC News NI that he was critical of how it had been implemented.

In his written review, Dr Zazai praised the "energy and commitment" of civil servants in The Executive Office in "creating an equal society for all".

He said many people in Northern Ireland were working "mostly behind the scenes to build bridges and bonds across communities".

But, he wrote, there had been substantial change in Northern Ireland since the strategy had been approved in 2015, particularly with the continued arrival of new people due to crises in Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Hong Kong, together "with more people seeking asylum dispersed by the Home Office".

'Lack of confidence reporting hate crime'

As part of his review, Dr Zazai conducted a number of in-person interviews.

Some of those who spoke to him were sceptical about the Racial Equality Strategy.

"I am unsure of the impact of it on my life, and that of my children," one said.

"We feel removed from the strategy as we get on with the work on the ground with the communities we work with."

Another said: "We are a minute population; our needs are immense but priority will be given to louder voices."

Some representatives of refugee groups also said there was "a lack of confidence in reporting hate crime".

"I was distressed to hear of one refugee family moving into a home on an estate and having children throwing eggs at their property," he wrote.

"The response to their report was that they were only children."

The review also called for more education on "the history of Northern Ireland as well as about the new arriving communities".

Dr Zazai said it was important for people "to understand who is arriving in their community, but also very importantly, why they are coming, particularly in cases where people are fleeing from persecution to reach a place of safety".

The review's author also wrote that, once the Racial Equality Strategy was signed off by ministers in 2015, "there was then no subsequent action or delivery plan and associated budget developed".

"There was a view repeatedly expressed to me that little impact had been made by government departments," his review said.

The collapse of the Stormont Executive in 2017 and again in 2022 also hindered action on the strategy.

As a result, the "burden of delivery" had been placed on community and voluntary organisations.

The review included a number of "calls to action" including an action plan and budget, more monitoring on how a racial equality strategy was making Northern Ireland fairer and enhanced governance.

It also said there needed to be a refugee integration strategy and more support for other groups like Irish Travellers and Roma people.