CORONAVIRUS AND ANTI-ASIAN HATE: CRARR RELEASES SAFETY TIPS IN CHINESE AND VIETNAMESE

Montreal, April 16, 2020 — Due to demand and in order to more effectively reach out to Chinese and Vietnamese-speaking Montrealers and help members of these two groups respond to anti-Asian racism associated with COVID-19, CRARR has released its safety tips in Chinese and Vietnamese.

Facing rising reports of hate acts directed at Asian Montrealers such as harassment, insults, physical violence and vandalism due to the malicious association of the coronavirus with Chinese people, CRARR produced a list of safety tips for victims in English and French at the end of March. These tips constitute practical advice such as:

• If they are victims of physical assault, they can use reasonable force to protect themselves. The best reaction is to call for help;
• If they are the target of racist insults, jokes or other verbal taunts, they should not react verbally or physically. Instead, they should note down the physical description, videotape or take a picture of the aggressor, or the aggressor’s car license plate; and
• If their property is the target of hate vandalism, they need to take pictures of or videotape the damages, and safeguard any evidence of these damages.

The initial bilingual tips have been widely circulated online. On the CRARR Facebook page, the French version reached 936 people while the English version reached 9,524 people as of yesterday, which is a record.

The version in Chinese and Vietnamese is now designed to help inform mainly newcomers and seniors about concepts such as a “hate-motivated crime“ and means to protect themselves and report these acts.

“We are fully aware of the fact that many members of these two communities may not understand the complex language of the law and the notion of hate crime and hate acts, and may not know how to recognize, respond to and report acts of hate,” said CRARR Executive Director Fo Niemi.

“Producing the tips in Chinese and Vietnamese is more than about making the information accessible to these two groups. It is also about sending the right message as to the important role and place these communities hold in our society, encouraging them to stand up for their rights and removing obstacles to access to justice”, he concluded.

CRARR acknowledges the contribution of Me Xu JingYi and Ms. Minh Pham to the production of the Chinese and Vietnamese versions.

On April 1st, CRARR launched its campaign against COVID-19-related discrimination, under the slogan, “COVID-19 Does Not Discriminate. Neither Should You!”. Last week, it issued a call to businesses and private security guards to assume their legal responsibility to protect Asian customers’ safety in stores. More initiatives will follow.