LONDON, U.K.: Violent protests broke out in Southampton after a British-born Sikh man, who had falsely claimed that his white victim attacked him in a racist way, was sentenced to jail for murder.

A video showing police handcuffing the victim while he was dying was released along with the sentencing on June 1. This caused public anger and led to calls from different political parties to remove police guidelines that suggest treating people differently based on ethnicity.

About a week later, groups of masked men went from house to house looking for migrants after a white man in Belfast was stabbed several times and lost an eye. The attacker was a Sudanese immigrant.

Although such incidents are uncommon, they have been used by right-wing activists and politicians to highlight crime. This has increased existing tensions around national identity and immigration. As a result, some people now feel that Britain has become a less welcoming place for ethnic minority communities.

Ali Haydor, a 44-year-old who moved from Bangladesh as a child, said, "Anyone with a different skin color feels at risk right now. Even though we are proud of who we are, sometimes I wish we could hide it."

Research by the Migration Observatory shows that in the early 2020s, people in Britain were generally more open to immigration compared to other European countries. However, several surveys suggest that attitudes have become more negative since 2022. Younger people and those with left-leaning views are usually more supportive of immigration than older or more right-leaning groups.

Surveys also show that concerns are mainly about asylum seekers arriving in small boats, rather than people who come to work or study.

Reuters spoke with policy experts and 10 trade unions. They reported a rise in racist incidents, including patients refusing treatment from nurses because of their race, more racist comments at work, and migrant workers facing discrimination.

The Royal College of Nursing said there has been a 55 percent increase in workers experiencing racial discrimination since 2022. Paul Rees, head of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said that in 2025, one-third of staff were from Black, Asian, or minority ethnic backgrounds, and many are now facing abuse they have not experienced in decades.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has strongly condemned racism and the violence linked to it, warning that racist language is becoming more common again.

However, union leaders and experts say that political statements from various leaders have created an environment where open racism feels more acceptable. The focus on crime, even though most immigrants are not involved in it, has added pressure on social unity.

Populist leader Nigel Farage said that British institutions are biased against white people after the Southampton protests, but Starmer rejected this and accused him of using the situation to create division.

Haydor said racism had decreased since the 1990s but increased again during major political events like the 2016 Brexit vote. Recently, he has felt more uneasy, with some passengers making negative comments about Muslims.

Hardeep Singh from the Network of Sikh Organizations said he received a hate email calling for Sikhism to be wiped out. He described social media as full of hatred and said he had never seen such anger before.

In Belfast, the stabbing of a local man by a Sudanese refugee led to several days of unrest. Rioters attacked homes and businesses of ethnic minorities, setting fire to buildings and vehicles and forcing many people to leave.

Twasul Mohammed, who came to the UK as a refugee from Sudan in 2016, said women and children are very scared and she has stopped sending her children to school.

She added that many minority communities feel Northern Ireland has become more hostile since riots in 2024, which followed the killing of three young girls in Southport. Early false reports had blamed an asylum seeker, but the attacker was later identified as a British-born teenager with Rwandan parents.

Soon after the unrest in Southampton and Belfast, a man was charged in Edinburgh for attacks that appeared to target Muslims.

Police data shows that hate crimes in England and Wales increased in the year ending March 2025, rising by six percent to 82,490 cases involving racial motives.