- guardian.co.uk, Friday June 16 2000 17.08 BST
Like other towns and cities in Britain, Newport is by no means free of the stain of racial harassment and abuse. But the town prides itself on its multi-cultural identity and has worked hard in recent years to monitor and tackle the problem.
The death this week of Jan Martin Pasalbessi, 48, in what police are treating as a racist murder has left agencies dealing with race issues in a state of shocked disbelief.
Race relations in Pill, the docklands area where the murdered man lived, are generally good. The area, near the town's world famous transporter bridge, has a down at heel look to it. But once-derelict properties are gradually being replaced by housing developments in mews style settings.
On the walls, flyposters advertising a rally to defend asylum seekers underline local concerns that recent strident publicity on the issue could heighten tensions.
Hostility
Abdi Jama, a youth and community worker who moved to Pill from Tower Hamlets in London three years ago, said he had not found the area violent.
But he had fears for the future in the wake of the political row over asylum seekers which, he claimed, was promoting more hostility towards minority communities.
"The National Front recently came down here handing out leaflets because of the asylum seekers and my fear is that we are going to get incidents in the future. William Hague's attack on asylum seekers has also been stirring up racial hatred."
Judith Williams, who had come from another part of Newport to visit her sick grandfather, said she was shocked to hear what had happened. "I couldn't imagine it happening down here, this is such a multi-cultural area."
But an Asian woman who asked not to be identified claimed outsiders were causing trouble. "They say things like, go back to your own country. It's very rare that we let the children out on their own."
In 1998, 52 racial incidents were recorded in the Newport area. Figures for last year are said to show an increase but agencies believe this may reflect determined efforts to record such incidents rather than an increase in incidents.
Paul Flynn, the MP for Newport West, who knew Mr Pasalbessi as a constituent, said he felt a sense of disbelief that such a thing could have happened.
"No town is free of bigotry but Newport has a proud and successful record of integrating whole waves of people from outside Wales over the past 150 years. I am shocked by what was a senseless act of brutality."
Mr Pasalbessi died after being attacked by a group of white youths outside the Royal Gwent hospital on Monday night.
He had taken his 14-year-old stepdaughter, Christina, who is white, to the hospital for treatment after she received a cut face in what is thought to have been a racist incident outside their home.
A relative of the person involved in the earlier incident was among those who began arguing with Mr Pasalbessi - who suffered horrific head injuries after being punched and kicked by a four-strong gang as he lay on the ground. He died in hospital in Cardiff the following afternoon.
Christina, who watched helplessly, was yesterday being cared for by police family protection unit officers. Relatives were travelling from Holland to be with her.
Mr Pasalbessi and Christina had moved into housing association accommodation in Pill only two weeks earlier after suffering what Mr Pasalbessi claimed was racial harassment from neighbours in another part of the town.
Pill is home to a large part of the diverse ethnic community that took root when Newport docks became established in the 19th century.
Ethnic minorities, including strong Somali, Yemeni and Pakistani communities, make up almost 4% of Newport's 138,000 population.
Suffering
Local fears that Conservative policy on asylum seekers may be heightening racial tension are shared at the offices of the commission for racial equality in Cardiff.
Mashuq Ally, head of the CRE in Wales, said south Wales had witnessed a 150% increase in the number of racist incidents reported to police since last November. He believed the rise was due to the adverse publicity given to asylum seekers moving into Wales.
He said much of the concern that had been generated was due to a lack of knowledge and ignorance about the number of people involved.
"At the moment the fear for many communities within Wales is that their social and economic life may be disturbed," he said. "The people who are really suffering are, in fact, black and ethnic minorities who have enjoyed a long period of peacefulness here and are now being victimised."
Newport has around 200 asylum seekers and refugees living in the area at present, including people from Somalia and former Yugoslavia.
It is currently taking the lead role in negotiating with the Home Office on behalf of Wales over the proposed dispersal of asylum seekers. It is thought south-east Wales as a whole will take in around 600 asylum seekers over a two-year period.
The chief executive of Newport council, Sandy Blair, who chairs the Newport Forum to Counter Racial Harassment, said that while Newport had a somewhat unfair reputation as a tough town, the level of serious racial incidents in the area was low.
• Gwent police were yesterday continuing to question four people in connection with Mr Pasalbessi's death.
