In spite of the equality law...The Shadow of Racism in Britain Is Growing

[Anchor]
The country of equality laws, the United Kingdom, strictly prohibits all acts of discrimination.

However, there has been a controversy over various racial issues in the UK, including the hate speech incident against Son Heung-min.

A government police reporter from London reports on the state of racism in the UK.

[Reporter]
Son Heung-min, who has been playing in the English Premier League for 10 years, is the pride of Korean soccer.

In June last year, Tottenham's teammate Bentancur's racist remarks, with Son Heung-min as captain, became a big controversy.

When asked by the host to save Son's uniform on a live local TV show, he said he would not know if he brought Son's cousin's uniform, which looked exactly like Son or his cousin.It is a representative racist remark targeting Asians, which means

'All Asians look the same.'

The English Football Association imposed heavy penalties on the issue, judging the seriousness of the matter, saying the remarks offended the entire Korean society.

The UK has been responding to racial discrimination in earnest by enacting the Race Relations Act in 1965, and it is considered the first example of European anti-racism laws.

In particular, the "Equality Act" was enacted in 2010 to ensure that no one was treated unfairly due to race, age, disability, and gender.

Despite these efforts, immigrants still say they are not free from racism.

[Yang Hye-kyung / Korean-American in London, England] I think I just think that it's just a part of my daily life when I pass by and speak Chinese. I feel really bad.]

According to a British police investigation, about 140,000 hate crimes have been reported in England and Wales in the past year.

Of these, two out of three cases were found to be due to racism.

Some experts point out that the UK's decision to "Brexit" to withdraw from the EU in a referendum in 2016 was an opportunity to deepen racism.As a result of the

vote, it has been confirmed that racist sentiment is deeply rooted in society as a whole, with more than a majority in favor of Brexit.

In fact, hate crimes have risen to 25% in England and Wales since the Brexit referendum, especially in pro-Brexit areas.

[Yusuf Razak / Second generation Muslim immigrants to Egypt living in the UK] (Examples of racism) are inappropriately targeted. I sometimes get interrogated. I also hear bad things. Stores run by ethnic minorities are also attacked by extremists. The British government and society have changed for the better. However, I think there is still a lot of work to be done.

UK re-accepting immigrants from non-EU to address recent labour shortages.

To prevent more serious racial hatred problems, it is urgent to come up with strong measures against discrimination.

YTN World, London, United Kingdom.