DYFED-POWYS Police is having to deal with more race hate crimes, following a rise in offences around the EU referendum, figures show.

The latest Home Office data shows an increase in the number of hate crimes reported to the police, where race is the motivating factor, during the year of the Brexit vote.

In the 2016/17 financial year, 107 incidents were recorded by Dyfed-Powys Police, where someone was abused or attacked due to their race.

That is a 22 per cent increase on the previous year, when 88 cases were recorded.

A Home Office report states that, while the police have improved their recording methods, “part of the increase is due to a genuine increase in hate crime, particularly around the time of the referendum”.

Rose Simkins, chief executive of Stop Hate UK, said it was “now an indisputable fact” that racist incidents have risen since the Brexit vote.

She explained: “Our own figures, from the period 2016/17, also support this trend where, after several years of disability being the biggest motivating factor, there was a clear shift towards race being the biggest factor. Also, after the referendum, many more people reported suffering hate for the first time.”

The figures also show a rise in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic hate crime, where religion was a motivating factor.

Dyfed-Powys Police recorded 10 cases in 2016/17, four more than the previous year.

Ms Simkins said that while reporting and recording of hate crime has improved, she still believes there is a large disparity between the actual number of incidents and the number reported to the police.

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