Just 13% of hate crimes committed against south east Asian people in the last four years have resulted in a criminal charge or similar outcome.

A Freedom of Information request to Kent Police revealed how there had been a small rise in these type of offences being reported to them between 2019 and 2020 following the Covid outbreak which resulted in south east Asian people being targeted.

There were 25 investigations last year, a rise from 22 in 2019; this year so far, there have been 17 such incidents.

The force classified alleged victims having their "ethnic appearance" as "Chinese, Japanese, or south east Asian".

Of the 90 offences investigated by the force between 2017 and 2021 so far, the majority (36) were offences relating to racially or religiously-aggravated threatening behaviour which caused fear or provocation of violence.

These types of could include threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or the display of signs which include insulting words.

The second-most investigated offence was aggravated assault without injury which was racially or religiously-aggravated.

Other offences included threats to kill (one), criminal damage to a dwelling and vehicle (five) and malicious communications (nine).

Just 13% of the offences in these time frame ended in a charge, summons or postal requisition; in 30 cases no suspect was identified and in 20 cases, further action was prevented by evidential difficulties or because the victim withdrew their support.

Further action was also prevented in two other cases where the suspect was too ill to prosecute, and another where they had died.

Recent statistics uncovered by End Violence and Racism Against East and Southeast Asian Communities showed nationally, reported attacked rose by almost 50% in two years; they also found how between 2019 and 2020, hate crimes reports increased in over 60% of police forces who responded to the group's Freedom of Information request.

Kent Police's Superintendent Pete Steenhuis of the Protecting Vulnerable People Command, said: "Crimes motivated by prejudice are abhorrent and all incidents reported to Kent Police are investigated thoroughly with victims at the heart of what we do.

"There is no place for hate crime in Kent and nobody deserves to be subjected to such treatment.

"We will continue to work with partner agencies and communities to promote a greater understanding of this type of crime and remind people of the many ways in which it can be reported.

"Members of the public can report incidents of hate crime by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency or by visiting www.kent.police.uk.

"We also have a number of third party reporting centres around the county and other mechanisms including the Hate Crime App and True Vision website."

Meanwhile, research by an anti-bullying charity shows online hate speech has increased by 20% in the UK since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ditch The Label found the biggest rise in abuse was targeted at the Asian population - an increase of 1662% last year compared with 2019.

The charity reviewed 263 million online conversations in the UK and US on social media sites, blogs and forums between 2019 and mid-2021.

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