Sajid Javid reveals he was victim of racist bullying at school like Syrian refugee attacked in Yorkshire

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Jamal Hijazi with supporters outside Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield.  Credit: SWNS

Sajid Javid revealed he suffered racial bullying as an 11-year-old schoolboy like the Syrian refugee who was videoed being attacked in Yorkshire last week.

The home secretary said that seeing the video brought back memories of how he was bullied for being Asian when he started at his comprehensive school in Bristol in the early 1980s.

“I saw the video like anyone else and part of me was clearly absolutely outraged and to be frank it reminded me of an incident I had myself when I was 11 at school,” said Mr Javid, one of five sons of parents of Pakistani descent.

 “That’s the immediate memories that came back to me and I hated it and I thought how that young boy must feel.”

Sajid Javid

 Mr Javid told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme he had been pushed to the ground and verbally abused in the attack that was “very similar” to the assault on Jamal Hijazi, a 15 year old Syrian refugee who was filmed being pushed to the ground and having water poured on his face.

Mr Javid said he had written a personal note to Jamal, adding: “When the investigation is over I’d like him to come see me with his family and at least just have a cup of tea or something.”

The Home Secretary said he had been heartened by the support for Jamal after the video went viral, and not just from those who might have been victims of racism.

“There’s another part of me, that when that was on social media, the heartwarming bit was that so many people cared and they were outraged by it,” said Mr Javid.

 “The people being outraged were not just Asians like me, or other ethnic minorities, the general population were outraged and to me that says something really important about us as people and our values.

“With the Windrush crisis, as you know that’s what effectively brought me into this position as Home Secretary, and what you saw there was not just the Afro-Caribbean communities react - it was the whole British population because we all care.”

Mr Javid said he had also visited some Syrian refugees and their families in Coventry after the incident  “because I just wanted to connect with them.”

The video showed the 15-year-old at  Almondbury community school in Huddersfield being set upon by an attacker who dragged him to the floor and said 'I'll drown you' before pouring a bottle of water on his face as others watched on.

It is alleged the boy, who escaped war torn Syria with his parents and sister, has suffered two years of bullying since they arrived in Huddersfield.

Now they want to leave the town and start a new life somewhere else because the level of abuse has got too much.

So far more than £135,00 has been raised after the video of the assault went viral. It was subsequently claimed his sister had also suffered bullying and had her headscarf ripped off in a school playground attack.