Ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong harassed and discriminated against amid online rumours pinning blame for Yuen Long attack on them
- Community in tense northern town anxious as some members close businesses and others stay home
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Ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong have become the target of harassment and discrimination with some forced to close businesses and stay home after internet users suggested members of the community were behind the vicious Yuen Long attack last week.
In one case, a group of Nepali men living in Yuen Long suddenly found themselves being confronted by locals on the street on the night of July 21, just an hour after a white-clad mob beat up passengers at the MTR station.
The Nepali group was verbally abused, pushed and also accused of attacking civilians, according to community leader Jimmy Singh Baljinder.
He said the misunderstanding was directed particularly towards Indian, Pakistani and Nepali residents who live in Yuen Long and New Territories West. In fear of being targeted, many of them did not show up for work, cancelled their social appointments and barely left home.
“Many ethnic minority group members are living in fear recently,” said Singh, co-founder of the Racial Integration Education and Welfare Association, an NGO.