IHRC has issued safety advice to the Muslim community after two Muslim worshippers were injured when a group of thugs carrying bottles and hockey sticks launched a “racially aggravated” assault outisde a mosque earlier this week.

The group attacked people going into Sri Lankan Muslim Centre in East Ham for iftar – the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset.

Eyewitnesses said there were about 15 European males armed with wooden poles, beer bottles, fluorescent light tubes and stones who turned up outside the Barking Road mosque at 9pm on Tuesday 19 April. Two people sustained minor injuries in the attack.

The month of Ramadan often sees a spike in hate crimes against Muslims and their places of worship because of the greater visibility of worshippers attending mosque, especially during the night.

In the light of Tuesday’s attack, IHRC is calling on the community to follow the following advice:

Be vigilant

Do not open suspect packages

Monitor access to car parks and other enclosures under your control. Report suspicious vehicles to the police.

Review security arrangements regularly to ensure they are adequate for any event you intend to host.

Ask your local crime prevention officer to carry out a crime prevention survey of your building.

Encourage staff to take security seriously and establish regular training for them. Ensure they are aware of contingency plans and procedures for the building. Make guidelines readily available to all staff including ‘out of doors’ housekeeping staff.

Consider having a fire safety review carried out by your London Fire and Emergency planning Authority.

Consider installing CCTV. If you do have CCTV ensure it records properly & images are of good quality.

Report all harassment, whether it is verbal, physical or psychological, to your local police and the Islamic Human Rights Commission (020 8904 4222, info@ihrc.org)

If a satisfactory response is not received from the police, contact the IHRC or another relevant local group (get in contact if you need help finding one)

Liaise with the police, and get advice on how to best tackle the problem of harassment.

If anything untoward occurs please ensure it is recorded on your phone, CCTV, written down &/or noted by a third party.

In the UK, any non-emergency occurrences must be reported to the police by 101, because the information may have some importance for intelligence purposes.

In the UK, Only use 999 for genuine emergencies, because non-emergency calls on this number ties up essential services when it could be diverted elsewhere.

In the UK, Information on any incident can be passed to police through Crime Stoppers by phone (0800-555-111) or online & if they feel concerned about their identity, they can do so anonymously.

For more information or comment please contact the Press Office on (+44) 7958522196