It is easy to look at the horrific alkaline attack that took place in south London last week and question how it was allowed to happen.
A woman and her two children were among 12 victims when a man threw a corrosive substance at the family on Wednesday evening in Clapham. Police have identified Abdul Ezedi as a suspect and have appealed for information about his whereabouts.
It has been reported that both the woman and Ezedi had come to the UK as asylum seekers from Afghanistan. It has further been reported that Ezedi had a conviction for a sex offence, and that his conversion to Christianity had formed part of his asylum application. But questions about how the attack was able to happen, and revelations about Ezedi’s past, are not an excuse to demonise those seeking asylum on a wider scale – as we are seeing with the spotlight now being thrown on individuals on the Bibby Stockholm who have converted.
