"An eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind" - Mahatma Gandhi

However, it seems the world is already blind to what is happening; an International Student comes to this island to seek a brighter future, but what if he/she can't even see that future. 

This is the story of: 

• Ms Anjali Sharma and her friend were recently attacked by a group of under-18 thugs in St. Stephens Green, the lung of our city. In an interview with Dublin Live, Ms Sharma states "I turned and they threw a can straight into my eye. I started crying and yelling because I couldn't see anything. It felt like my eye was gone. I wasn’t able to see for almost half an hour. I was so panicked and the teenagers ran away."
  Anjali had to be taken to hospital where the doctors said she suffered from retinal bruising which would take a few weeks to heal.
• Mr Ambarish Kumar Sonbhadra and Mr Prince Kumar Singh former Masters students in International Business Management at Griffith College and were on their way home from an exam when they were set upon by the vicious young thugs as little as 10-year-old. On Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Singh said his friend had to get stitches in his head after one of the children threw a bicycle lock at him.
• Deliveroo courier named Francisco Teruliano de Oliviera Neto – known as Neto – made headlines in February of 2019 when he was beaten with a baseball bat and robbed by up to 11 men in Finglas, northwest Dublin. His injuries were so severe that he had to move back to Brazil after the attack. VICE.
• In August of 2020, 28-year-old Thiago Cortes was killed in a hit-and-run in Dublin’s East Wall area while working for Deliveroo. He had only been working for the company for ten days, to earn money for his wedding, when he was struck down by a group of youths out joyriding. VICE.

Finally, We conclude by sharing the words of Laura Harmon, Executive Director of ICOS ‘these are frontline workers who have provided a vital service to people throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, it is completely unacceptable that anyone should be subject to racial abuse and violence.  I urge any international student who has been a victim of a racially motivated attack to contact the Gardai and also report the incident to ICOS.’

Ireland's Youth Diversion Program was formally established under the Children Act 2001. The purpose of this program is to keep juvenile offenders and youngsters engaged in anti-social behaviour out of the criminal court system in Ireland by providing them with a second opportunity. The original scheme's objective was to keep juvenile offenders out of the judicial system and away from a criminal record. Additionally, it has been referred to as the juvenile diversion program.

The Diversion Program's purpose is to enable young people who commit criminal offences or engage in anti-social behaviour to be dealt with via caution rather than through the official procedure of charging and prosecuting them or through an anti-social behaviour order.

It is a violation of NATURAL JUSTICE to provide someone with a second chance, regardless of whether they are underage, at the cost of taking away the only chance someone else may have.

Most of these crimes go unreported or without evidence, but someone has been physically harmed, and there is no system in place to bring that individual to justice in our country. If you have been a victim of such crime, please share your experience with us here: https://forms.gle/3M35ZrL4oexaZjvU8 

We are not asking that the state penalise the youth because an eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind, but it is imperative that our Republic create a just environment for everyone, regardless of their origins or backgrounds.

Follow Anjali's story:

1. A Dublin student has temporarily lost vision in one of her eyes after a brutal gang attack: https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/notorious-teen-park-dublin-gang-21114907 
2. This attack can affect her vision in the long term, listen to Anjali Sharma and Jhankrut Priyadarshi story as they share it on RTÉ Radio 1: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/21987493/
3. Hindi version: https://irishsamachar.com/?p=11943
4. Part of the trauma for Sharma and others, though, has been feeling unsupported after the attacks.: https://dublininquirer.com/2021/08/04/victims-of-racist-attacks-in-dublin-ask-for-more-support-from-gardai-taoiseach
5. Student Anjali Sharma has doubts about staying in Ireland after she and her friend were attacked at St Stephen’s Green in Dublin https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/crime/since-i-was-attacked-my-family-think-i-would-be-safer-back-in-india-student-speaks-out-about-being-assaulted-in-dublin-40795764.html