Refugee Congress Condemns Racism Directed at the Asian American Pacific Islander Community

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 8, 2020

WASHINGTON–Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a national and international upsurge of racism directly targeted at the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

There has been an increase in harassment, verbal attacks, social media bullying and physical attacks against AAPIs. According to the Stop AAPI Hate reporting site, there have been more than 2,5000 hate incidents reported to date.

Refugee Congress continues to confront long-standing issues of racism, which the Movement for Black Lives has brought to the forefront of our national consciousness. Today’s racist incidents remind us that the U.S has a long history of racism and scapegoating directed at the AAPI community. For more than a century, the U.S. has made laws and national policies that discriminate against Asians.

Refugee Congress Delegate Nga Vương-Sandoval is collaborating with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Mountain States to provide information on incidents throughout the U.S. The ADL has been monitoring activity involving hate and racist incidents directed toward the AAPI community since the onset and throughout the pandemic.

Additional and ongoing information is needed in order for the ADL and authorities to track and respond accordingly to these incidents. The ADL calls on people across the U.S. to report incidents of racism and xenophobia directed at the AAPI community here.

Refugee Congress is committed to addressing deeply rooted systems of racial inequity, violence and injustice in this country. As former refugees and asylum-seekers, we are survivors of war and genocide, and we know the devastating impacts of injustice and hate. We call on everyone to stand against racial injustice and violence. We need to ensure that our AAPI community feels safe, welcomed and safeguarded from racism in all forms.