'I didn't feel safe' - How the riots impacted British Asians in the region

Hanah Arshad reports on the lasting impact of violence and disorder which flared up across the nation over the summer

"I didn't feel safe."

Zaf Iqbal, from Sunderland, opened up about one night last month which made him fear for his life.

On 2 August, violence and disorder broke out in the city. Far-right crowds descended onto the Anwaar e Madinah mosque. Inside the mosque was Zaf and a few others. They had to barricade themselves in for safety.

“We could see from the windows that the crowds were trying to push past police," he said. "So the fear was the crowd could break through at any moment.

“And if they pushed their way through there, I can’t say what damage could have happened [not just] to us physically but to the building."

He added: “It was sad to see that happen to my home city, I was born and raised here. It’s not anything you expect to see.”

Zaf took this video while he was barricaded inside the mosque

Violent disorder flared up in different parts of the UK over the space of a week, including in Hartlepool, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Darlington.

It began after misinformation spread online over the identity of a suspect involved in a stabbing attack at a children's dance class in Southport, Merseyside, on 29 July 2024, where three young girls were killed.

In some cities across the UK, rioters had set fire to hotels housing asylum seekers, and launched bricks and fireworks at police.

For Mohsan Ishaq, the riots last month still remain on his mind.

“It does worry me, like if this happened, could it happen again? God forbid, we don’t want something like that," he said.

Polling group Muslim Census surveyed 1,519 Muslims to see how the recent riots had impacted the UK Muslim community.

Of those respondents, 92% said they now felt “much less safe".

Their research also found that one in six said they had personally experienced an Islamophobic or racist incident during the week of national unrest.

The disorder across the country brought back some painful memories among British Asians living in our region.

Pasha Qurashi came to England during the 1970, a decade which saw the rise of the far-right National Front and a spate of racist attacks across the country.

“I had some verbal abuse and name calling," he said.

Around the mid-1980s, he moved to North Tyneside to open a corner shop. It was just a few years later that he experienced the Meadow Well estate riots.

Unrest broke out on the North Tyneside estate on the night of 9 September 1991.

The violence was sparked after the deaths of two joyriders, Dale Robson, 17, and Colin Atkins, 21. They were killed when their stolen car went out of control while being chased by police at high speed.

Rumours quickly circulated that officers had rammed their car and although nothing substantiated these claims, it stirred anti-police sentiment in the area.

Hundreds of people went on to loot shops, vandalise buildings and pelt bricks at emergency services.

Violence had also spread from North Tyneside to Newcastle - with business and homes in the West End also targeted.

The Asian communities living in Meadow Well had also been caught up in the firing line, with hundreds of protestors shouting racist slogans.

Pasha's shop was near the Meadow Well area.

He said: "People were saying that if you weren’t the same colour of skin, they will hit you.

“I was very uncomfortable and insecure.”

Luckily for Pasha, he was left unharmed, and those from his local community came to protect him.

“At the time, the local community said 'Pasha, don’t worry, don’t put the shutters down, please stay open, nobody will say anything to you, we are with you,'" he added.

Social commentary of the time mentioned that "Meadow Well had been a riot waiting to happen for some time before two young car thieves died when crashing a car during a police chase".

The year after the riots, Dick Hobbs, a criminologist who was working at Durham University, said there were several socio-economic factors which resulted in this feeling of discontent in the community.

In 1992 he said: "86% unemployment and a neglect by local and central Government ensured an anonymity of poverty that permeates every brick.

"The local library closes in the early summer of 1991, 25% of the estates’ houses are boarded up and 80% of inhabited houses require repairs," he had said in an article in Youth and Policy in June 1992.

This is a common theme in the riots that took a hold of the country this summer.

Seven out of the 10 places that witnessed violent disorder are considered impoverished areas.

According to the Government's Indices of Deprivation, Blackburn, Blackpool, Hartlepool, Hull, Liverpool, Manchester and Middlesbrough register in that top 10.

Simon Winlow, a professor of social sciences at Northumbria University, said he "wasn't surprised" that towns in our region that saw unrest are considered impoverished areas.

"These are places of extreme social problems," he said. "When you see an impoverished neighbourhood, they show all the signifiers of social problems.

"Poverty leads to a gradual frustration and anger, and this is what leads to what see in the streets in those riots."

A spokesperson from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: “We want to understand the factors that drove this disorder, which is why we have set up a cross-government group, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, designed to prevent it from reoccurring.

“Our £15 million Community Recovery Fund will also help communities rebuild and address the roots of the unrest, as part of this government’s new approach to social cohesion.”

Despite everything that has happened, there is hope within the community that things will get better.

“I’m a Mackem as much as anyone else is in Sunderland, said Mohsan. "I’ve seen a lot of people, and we do get along, it’s just small individuals that don’t understand you know. It’s 2024 now.

“I do hope for the best that we do have the communities, get together, stay strong, and on top of this, we don’t have riots like this."

This is a sentiment held by Sunderland Interfaith Forum.

They organise events trying to bring people from different backgrounds together. This includes sessions where people can learn about different cultures and religious beliefs.

Zaf said: “I’ve said it before, we all belong to the same race, the human race, we need to learn to get along with each other, not carry on attacking each other for small differences.

"We need to celebrate those common bonds, not be divided by small differences."

Reverend Chris Howson co-chairs the forum alongside Zaf. He said: "I think events like this show how important it is for communities to get to know each other.

"I hope that work will happen in the coming years, because it's going to be years before we get over the shock of what happened that night."

Help and support

If you or someone you know has experienced a hate crime or hate incident, you can get help from hate crime support services.

You can get help from Victim Support - this is an independent charity that can:

• listen to you and give you emotional support

• give you practical help - for example, if you need to repair damage caused by a hate crime or move house if you’re being harassed

• help you deal with the legal system - for example, if you’re going to court

Get support from Victim Support on their website.

You can also report it to the police.

If you want to report the crime or incident to the police, it’s a good idea to contact a hate crime support service first. They can help you work out what to say in your report.

Check how to report a hate crime to the police.

If you don’t want to talk to the police, you can ask an independent organisation to report it for you anonymously. These organisations are called ‘third party reporting centres’.

In an emergency, you should call 999.

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