Curb crimes against Asian people with disabilities, urges APDA

THE surging crime wave against UK’s Asian people with disabilities and their households has unsettled the community.

The recent annual meet of Asian People’s Disability Alliance (APDA) saw members perturbed over robbery of homes with elderly and disabled occupants.

Members said many such households were in constant dread and distress. Living every moment with the lurking fear of thieves and gangsters was traumatic, they added.

The miscreants who target Asian homes often destroy property and leave behind a mess. Hence, whether at home or away, anxiety was a constant companion for the vulnerable.

What is more worrisome is the response victims get. For instance, said members, some of the crimes are attributed to Asian women owning or wearing jewellery.

That’s like saying women are attacked because of what they choose to wear or their lifestyles, said an APDA statement. It was a way of covering up “race and hate motives behind the actual crimes”, it alleged.

“This is happening all over London and even in the very ward that the London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s residence,” said the statement.

The alliance said officials should acknowledge that the Asian community was being specifically targetted, and such robberies be dealt with more stringently as hate crimes.