We have been collecting and recording details on all hate crimes directed at the Muslim community in Swansea, especially those occurring in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the USA. There were some incidents where RAHMA was the reporting organisation bringing the police's attention to the crime.

We sent out a letter to the head teachers of all schools and colleges in the City & County of Swansea drawing their attention to the possible negative effects on race relations within schools, following the attacks in the United States., and the role of teachers in sending out clear and truthful messages to staff and pupils. A copy of these letters was sent to Swansea's Director of Education and the Director of Swansea Bay Racial Equality Council. Along with the letters, a teacher's resource guide to approaching and combating racism and Islamophobia arising out of the tragic events in the USA was also sent out to be distributed to all staff and teachers in all of Swansea's schools and colleges.

The Chair of RAHMA participated in a meeting in Cardiff of Muslim leaders from South Wales with Rhodri Morgan First secretary of the National Assembly for Wales to discuss the anti-Muslim backlash post September 11th 2001. He also attended a subsequent meeting in Swansea with Rhodri Morgan and Andrew Davies AM (Swansea West) along with other local Muslim leaders to discuss the issues surrounding the sharp increase in religiously motivated attacks on Muslims in Swansea following the tragic events in the USA.

RAHMA was represented by one of our members as part of a panel of speakers at the 'Human Rights, Justice and Muslims in the Wake of September 11th' seminar. RAHMA gave a short presentation at the seminar on dealing with the anti-Muslim backlash in Britain. The seminar took place at the Brunei Gallery in London on 21st October 2001, and was organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission.

RAHMA is in the process of facilitating a meeting of leading Muslim women in Swansea with influential women representing the National Assembly government, South Wales Police, the council and other relevant groups and individuals to discuss a multi-party response to protect Muslim women (the most vulnerable and particularly targeted section of the Muslim community).

SMYLE: Very busy for such a new organisation! How is the organisation structured, and do you have enough people to share out the work?

RAHMA: RAHMA is headed by 5 trustees made up of 3 men and 2 women. The trustees are from the Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Iranian and Arab communities.

Currently, RAHMA is only operating its monitoring scheme in the City & County of Swansea and therefore the make-up of its membership reflects this. We started off will only 41 men and 12 women as members when the organisation was initially formed. Since the events of September 11th, many more people in the Muslim community have realised the urgent need to combat Islamophobia and now our membership is currently well in excess of 100 members, with around 40% of the membership being women. Our members are from a variety of professional and ethnic backgrounds from the Muslim community. RAHMA has permanent spaces on its advisory committee, which are open to one representative from each of the following mosques and Muslim community centres:
1. Swansea Mosque & Islamic Community Centre
2. Swansea University Mosque
3. Imam Khoei Islamic Centre
4. Kafel Centre
5. Hafod Islamic Cultural Centre
(The Imam, President or Chair of each mosque or community centre would normally fill these spaces, but not exclusively).

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