Amnesty International India has condemned the racist attack against Africans in India and called on Uttar Pradesh authorities to bring to justice those responsible for recent racist attacks against black African students and ensure the students’ safety.
Campaigner at Amnesty International India, Makepeace Sitlhou, said in a statement yesterday that the recent attacks in Uttar Pradesh have shown how black people in India – particularly African students – continue to face racist discrimination and violence.
“Many of those injured were targeted merely because of the colour of their skin. These are hate crimes, and authorities need to ensure that those responsible are punished,” Sitlhou said.
Amnesty noted that several black African students have been attacked in a series of hate crimes in Greater Noida over the last three days.
According to the group, on Wednesday, a Kenyan woman was pulled out of a taxicab and beaten in Greater Noida.
“On 27 March, four Nigerian men were beaten up by locals holding a protest march demanding justice for a 17-year-old who had died two days earlier from a suspected drug overdose. The boy’s family had accused their five Nigerian neighbours of murder and demanded their arrest. The men were arrested, and later released due to lack of evidence,” the statement explained.
Video footage posted online by the Association of African Students in India shows two other Nigerian students being beaten – including with metal chairs and dustbins – by a mob inside a mall in Greater Noida on 27 March. One of the students, Enduranca Amalawa, told journalists, “We kept crying for help, but no one came, not even the security marshals. I was running but they followed me and attacked me.”
The statement added that the police in Noida have registered a First Information Report against nine people on charges including attempt to murder in relation to the attack at the protest.
Meanwhile, following multiple distress calls by Nigerian students in India on concerns on their safety as a result of renewed attacks on them, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has urged Nigerians in India to remain calm, be watchful of their surroundings.
Dabiri-Erewa said in a statement in Abuja yesterday that the renewed Tuesday attacks on Nigerian students’ in India was uncalled for.
While condemning the mob action as unwarranted and deplorable, the SSA noted that the Indian authorities currently have five suspects in custody.
Dabiri-Erewa noted that though the situation was calm at the moment, the Indian government has a responsibility to protect Nigerian students in India going about their normal duties.
She urged the Indian government to ensure that any alleged suspect should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.