Glasgow Herald, 15/05/01 Ordeal of a refugee scarred after attack LORNA MARTIN SHWAN Kareem Saeed thought he had left racism and ignorance behind him. But his scars serve as a lifelong reminder of how wrong he was. He may have managed to escape from an Iraqi jail relatively unscathed, unlike his brother who was killed for the same crime - being Kurdish. However, he has not been so fortunate in his temporary new home in Sighthill. These days, the 28-year-old is essentially a prisoner in a small, eleventh-floor flat in Glasgow, too afraid to venture outside after a vicious attack in January which left him scarred on his hip and groin and still attending hospital. But it is the emotional wounds that run deeper. "I cannot understand why people do this," he says in broken English. "Fifteen people came at me with bottles, and knives and metal bars. 'Why the f... did you come here?' they said. 'Why, why, why, why? Go back where you f...... came from.' "Iraq is very bad because Saddam Hussein, with Kurdish, it is no good. I was in prison for a year. My brother was in prison for a year too but he was killed. So I came here. But here it is also very bad." So bad, in fact, that Shwan, who came to Glasgow 10 months ago under the government's dispersal system for distributing refugees across the UK, would rather return to the tyrannical regime from which he was forced to flee. Meanwhile, he spends most of his time indoors, going out only when he runs out of food. Then, he braves a quick journey to the local Lidl supermarket, the only place where he can spend his weekly �25 allowance of vouchers. "I am too scared to go out," he admits quietly. "Glasgow is very good, Scotland is very good. Some people are nice and welcoming, but not in Sighthill." Last week, Habi Abbas, also an Iraqi Kurd, was attacked by a gang as he waited for a bus. The 31-year-old, who lives in the south side of Glasgow, had been visiting other asylum-seekers in Petershill Court Flats, in Red Road, Glasgow. He was taken to Stobhill Hospital with serious head injuries after the incident last Tuesday and was yesterday in a stable condition in the Southern General Hospital. The attack was the latest in a series of assaults on asylum-seekers in the Sighthill and Red Road areas, with nearly 70 being reported this year. Last month, brothers Haitham and Iyad Saada, received hospital treatment for serious injuries following an attack in Sighthill. With as many as 2000 refugees living in the area, attacks have been escalating at a rate of nearly 200% a month. There have been warnings that refugees have started arming themselves with knives to defend themselves and their families because they feel that the police are not doing enough. A spokeswoman for the Scottish Refugee Council said the charity had no knowledge of such action, but said it would be no surprise if refugees were taking the law into their own hands. "It is a fact that many asylum-seekers in Sighthill are living in terror and are too scared to go out. It would not be surprising if people felt driven to take desperate steps to defend themselves and their families. The increase in violent attacks on asylum seekers is of major concern. Racism is becoming a stain on the reputation of Glasgow." Strathclyde Police yesterday defended their handling of violence against refugees and said there was no evidence that they were arming themselves with knives. A spokeswoman said: "Strathclyde Police takes very seriously issues affecting asylum-seekers. There is no place in our society for vigilante-style actions." But Shwan, his dark eyes wide and sad, tells a different story: "Two or three times I called the police. I pointed out who attacked me. But five minutes later, the police went away. Maybe the police cannot do anything. I do not carry a knife, but, many of the refugees do." #########
