re simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hate crime victims are attacked because the perpetrator detests the victim because of who they are. (2)
             Racial hatred is the most common form of hate crime. A racist hate crime is when someone commits a crime against a person because of the colour of their skin, their ethnic background or their accent. Racism in today's society is on the increase and so is the occurrence of racially motivated attacks. Between 1996 and 1999 there was a 400% increase in racial attacks in Northern Ireland whilst according to the PSNI 226 attacks took place between April 2002 and April 2003. (3)
             Only last week on November the tenth three Latvian immigrant workers were attacked in Lurgan, southwest of Belfast, by a gang of men. All three suffered severe injuries including head wounds from being kicked to the head. These attacks followed the events of previous weeks when Filipino families had their property damaged by gangs who daubed swastikas and racist slogans on their houses. These attacks have occurred mainly in less economically developed parts of Belfast although not all attacks are isolated to Belfast. Turkish and Indian re
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