A South Korean teenager living in the Netherlands was kicked in his face by a group of people who addressed him as cancer Chinese corona. A video of the attack is going viral and the victim has received support from millions of people asking him to file a complaint with the police.
The incident occurred at Jagersplas, Zaandam in the Netherlands on June 22. The victim has been identified as 16-year-old Yani who is living in the Netherlands with his family. His elder brother, a student of business administration in the Netherlands, posted the video and said that his brother was abused with racial slur.
What Happened That Day?
Yani was out with his friends at a beach park at Jagersplas. They were resting on the grass after swimming. Yani was being stared at by three boys in the park who approached him and hurled racial slurs at him. But when he questioned them, they went away only to return with 12 boys. They snatched Yani's phone and asked him to apologize if he wanted the phone back. As he did not want to get into a fight, Yani apologized and got his phone back. But within minutes the boys came back with 20 people and threatened to kill him if he or his friends reported the matter to the police.
Hearing that Yani was shocked and not knowing how to react, he tried to talk to them when he was kicked on his head as others threatened him repeatedly calling him "cancer Chinese with your corona".
The video has also been uploaded by Yani's mother who appealed for people's support. She has already reported the incident to the police. She sought help from people to identify the boys who were involved in the racial attack.
Racial Attack on Asians in European Countries
The incident comes amid increasing cases of racist attacks on Asians in European countries. Especially after the outbreak of COVID-19, South-East Asians are being bullied and targeted with anti-Chinese slogans.
In March, an incident of a 23-year-old Asian student Jonathan Mok being attacked by a group of men was reported in London. The men are said to have shouted "I don't want your coronavirus in my country." Mok is a student of University College London (UCL) and has been studying there for two years.
In a similar case, a 27-year-old South Korean woman working in Australia for a year was reportedly physically attacked by racist thugs when she was visiting Bundaberg. She was stopped by a group of people including women who demanded to know if she had isolated herself for 14 days. Scared, the victim tried to avoid them but one of the youths in the group grabbed her hair and shoved her to the ground.
One woman in the group was heard yelling "go back to your country" while kicking the victim more than 10 times in March. The South Korean woman was then saved by passersby.
