Dialogue 'can ease racial tensions'

Barnie Choudhury
BBC News social affairs correspondent

As I travel across England and Wales I ask all people I meet one question.

It is a conversation stopper. "How are racial tensions here?"

Police are trying to keep across community concerns

Most say things are bubbling under, manageable, or no cause for concern.

But then they whisper: "I know I'm Asian and I'm not racist but these asylum seekers shouldn't be here."

I should not be surprised, but I cannot help myself.

After all, their parents were immigrants once. Many will have been vilified. Their cultures and rituals scrutinised.

So should they not be extending the arm of understanding and friendship?

Having a go

During the hot summer I was phoned by one of my contacts who said I should get to Derby because it was "kicking off".

Asylum seekers from Northern Iraq and local Asians were having a go at each other and it was not the first time.

Over the next few months I got phone calls and I spoke to several reliable sources.

All said the same thing. The tensions, while not as bad, had not gone away.

Others said I should come and see it for myself. So that is what I did.

'Tinder box'

My unscientific poll suggested a fifty-fifty split in opinion.

Asylum seekers were astounded by the current tensions, saddened they were being blamed and apologetic for any misunderstandings

Depending to whom I spoke, the asylum seeker was either OK or should not be here.

Some described the tensions as a 'tinder box'.

Others said anything could tip things over the edge.

The asylum seekers were astounded by the current tensions, saddened they were being blamed and apologetic for any misunderstandings.

The police are concerned. But then again, they have to be.

Little knowledge

So what we have is a festering wound that needs to be treated. It is a complex situation but let me try to simplify it.

What we have in Derby, and other places around the country, are single, young men, unable to work and with little to do but hang around the streets.

Some have little knowledge of the country's norms or traditions.

And, just as importantly, different communities in this multi-cultural melting pot have different rules.

If the stories, including rumours of a rape, are true then they should be told that you do not go up to any woman and proposition them.

The Asian communities take this immensely seriously. It impacts on their family honour.

That is on the one hand. On the other we have rumours which gather momentum and suddenly become fact.

This only leads to trouble.

'Big fight'

The truth, I suspect, lies somewhere in the middle of these two observations.

Tensions in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley spilled over into violence

An example is the 'big fight' over the summer.

Hundreds took part according to some, with van loads of police to break up the trouble.

Actually, say the police, about 20 to 30 were involved and it took just six beat officers to restore calm.

I spoke to several women who said they had been verbally abused and propositioned by some of the new arrivals.

But as Derby's Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Tony Hurrell, puts it: "It's easy to spread rumours. It's difficult to dispel rumours.

"It is about a dialogue. Nothing will ever be solved by violence on the streets."

Trevor Phillips, the Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, hit the nail on the head when he said: "It's only if you think that everybody who is not white is the same that you imagine there's no possibility of discord between people in different communities."

Fourth generation

I agree. It is something I have been saying for years. But we should be saddened.

You can't even assume they're from the same community just because they come from Iraq

Asians have been in Britain since the 1950s. Simple maths suggests we are now into our fourth generation of British-Asians.

They have a stake in this country and the myth of 'going back home' is just that, a myth.

Add to that stringent asylum and immigration measures from successive governments and an almost daily diet of anti-asylums stories in the press and the scene is set for everyone to bash the refugee.

The Asian communities are not immune from persuasion.

Same community?

Putting in one place hundreds of mainly single, young men who are unable to work makes you wonder how asylum policy is thought out.

David Blunkett is holding a 'poisoned chalice'

As one source said to me: "The government needs to look at its dispersal policy. You can't send young men where ever you want.

"You can't even assume they're from the same community just because they come from Iraq."

I do not envy David Blunkett and his team in the slightest. The phrase 'poisoned chalice' springs to mind.

For the moment, police are making sure they are across the problem.

Beat officers hear the rumours and investigate them.

Everyday Mr Hurrell receives a log of possible complaints and every so often various people in the city and he will meet to discuss how to deal with the problems.

Keep silent

Few will argue that this is anything but sensible and the police are confident the current problems can be solved without violence.

At least they are talking. I got a sense that others though do not want anything contentious discussed - as if things would go away if they keep silent.

I was in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley in 2001 and beyond.

One lesson each has learned the hard way is that if they had talked about it, to the right people, rather than the usual suspects, then frustrations may not have spilled into anger, as they did.

Nowadays different communities, once closed, are swapping their experiences, talking to each other and crucially trying to understand one another.

Perhaps it is here we should begin.