There is increasing evidence racist attacks are growing in many areas in Lithuania. The Indian singer, Bemeen, who works in the area has encountered examples of people using expressions such as “nigger” in order to describe him or his colleagues. This week, a gang assualted Bemeen, who is black, resulting in a beating that sent her to the hospital. The singer who performs in Lithuania and on local TV notes: “You cannot escape such people because they are everywhere. I worked hard in nine months and I do not plan to run from somebody calling me a ‘nigger.’ This was the first attack of such in my life. I have forgotten things like this. I kow this happens in all parts of the world, not only in Lithuania, but also London, South Africa, America. But it is totally different when it happens in a small country like this.”
Official figures indicate there has been a rise in such attacks, but they still number fewer than fifty nationwide. Obviously, one such incident is one too many, but until the numbers of black skinned people rise in the Baltic nations, these attacks will remain local in nature.