Muslim healthcare staff in UK suffer increase in racism after far-right riots

Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - LONDON: Muslim healthcare professionals in the UK have experienced a rise in racism in the past week, according to the president of the British Islamic Medical Association.

Dr. Salman Waqar said the increase in incidents comes amid a week of riots driven by far-right mobs across the UK, leaving medical staff living in fear.

The riots began after misinformation was spread online in the aftermath of a knife attack in Southport that left three young girls dead.

Social media posts alleged that the attacker was a Muslim asylum-seeker. The individual arrested and charged with the offenses was later identified as a Cardiff-born Christian, but rioters subsequently targeted mosques, Muslim neighborhoods and businesses, and facilities housing asylum-seekers across the country.

“I’ve seen some really terrible messages … of people having to close up their GP surgery early, of people being trapped in their practices, of people having to take taxis back and forth from work, people not going on home visits, people working remotely from home, there’s too many to mention and to count,” Waqar told The Guardian.

“From our perspective, in terms of our members reporting how fearful they are, reporting how they’re having to think twice about what they do, international colleagues questioning whether or not they have a future in the UK.

“That is unprecedented, I’ve never seen anything like this before. In terms of the volume, in terms of the strength of feeling, there is no comparison to it.”

He added: “The amount of chatter on social media, on WhatsApp groups, the amount of messages that people are sending to each other to be safe, to look out for one another, that is not normal. And that is absolutely alarming, it’s unprecedented.”

The British Egyptian Medical Association, meanwhile, said in a statement that its members had experienced a “troubling increase in fear of racist abuse and discrimination” in the past week.

“Our members, especially those working in frontline healthcare roles, have expressed heightened concerns about their safety and wellbeing in light of these incidents. The environment has become increasingly hostile, contributing to significant stress and anxiety among medical professionals,” said BEMA, which represents more than 11,000 medical staff in the UK.

“The atmosphere of intimidation has led to increased absenteeism, reduced morale and a general sense of insecurity among healthcare workers.

“This situation is detrimental to the overall healthcare delivery system, as it affects the wellbeing of those who are critical to its operation.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said earlier this week that anyone racially abusing medical staff “can and should” be turned away from National Health Service hospitals and doctors’ surgeries. 

Amanda Pritchard, CEO of NHS England, said on Monday: “We shouldn’t let dedication to duty disguise the fact that for many NHS workers, seeing this flare-up of racism, will leave them feeling afraid and unwelcome.”

BIMA and the NHS Muslim Women’s Network have called for specific acknowledgement by authorities of an increase in Islamophobia, saying failure to do so had “allowed it to become one of the most tolerated forms of racism” in the UK.

Waqar told The Guardian: “What we don’t see is the assurances that we need to see … whether it’s from the regulator, whether it’s from the government, that recognises that this is targeted to us in our community and who we are, and to people who look like us.

“And when you don’t see that, I think you feel very vulnerable, very exposed and it becomes a lot more difficult for you to deal with it.”