LONDON: Amidst the escalating unrest on the streets of several cities in the United Kingdom, Malaysian community groups and associations are playing their part in looking out for each other via their chat groups and social media.
Malaysian communities in affected cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Bristol took to their chat groups to update on developments, share video clips on incidents and warn members to keep away from areas where violence had erupted.
The unrest started as a response of the far-right, fuelled by online misinformation after the stabbing of three young children at a school in Southport in the northwest of England on July 29.
According to rumours, the 17-year-old alleged attacker, who was armed with knives and targeted children during a dance event, was a Muslim immigrant.
In the aftermath of the horrific attack, the far-right seized the opportunity to spread a wave of disinformation to mobilise anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant protests.
There were reports of a mosque being attacked and burnt, of a Muslim woman wearing a hijab being attacked with acid, and a taxi driver being beaten up.
There were ugly images of burnt cars, mobs rampaging the streets giving Nazi salutes and the damaging of houses and hotels where refugees were staying.
Even when the truth emerged that the alleged attacker was born in England, the violence continued and spread from city to city.
Din Amri was about 120m away from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester where fighting broke out amid a series of protests on Saturday (Aug 3).
People, mostly masked youngsters, chanted: "Stand Up for Your Country: Enough is Enough", alluding to their stance on migration.
Although Din couldn't see what was happening, he could hear the sirens from the police cars tearing down the streets.
Since the start of the unrest, Din had been following developments on social media and discussions in the Malaysian Community of Cheetham Hill group in Manchester.
"Luckily, so far there were no Malaysians affected. The unrests were mainly in the town centre," he said.
Din and his wife had advised their daughter, who works in the twon town centre, to take an Uber to and from work.
However, a recent report about mobs stopping cars to question drivers and passengers if they were English only compounded their anxiety.
In Liverpool, Al-Aina Khir has also been keeping herself abreast of the developments through chats in the Malaysian Liverpool Community group.
"The troubles are mostly in the city centre near the Albert Docks. According to one posting in the chat group, mobs started attacking a group of people distributing the Quran.
"It is quite worrying as I have to take my eldest son to his classes at the Al Rahmah Mosque in the evening," Aina said, hoping that the troubles would soon subside.
In the wake of unrest in towns and cities such as Sunderland, Belfast, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester, where there are sizeable Malaysian student populations, there is genuine concern for their safety.
The Foreign Ministry, through the Malaysian High Commission in London, has issued a statement saying they are closely monitoring the series of protests and urged Malaysians residing in and travelling to the UK United Kingdom to stay away from protest areas and to follow the latest updates and guidance provided by local authorities.
This makes Malaysia the first country to issue a travel warning for the UK following the recent worrying incidents.
Malaysian High Commissioner to the UK, Datuk Zakri Jaafar, confirmed that there had not been any reports of Malaysians being affected.
However, he said: "Malaysians must always keep themselves informed of the latest updates on the situation provided by the local authorities to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Zakri also warned Malaysians not to participate in spreading false or unverified information related to the situation.
Members of the Malaysia Association of the United Kingdom (MAUK) have also expressed concern about the safety of their fellow members in their chat group.
MAUK charter president Edmond Yeo said the association was helping to disseminate the statement issued by Wisma Putra and urged Malaysians to look after themselves and each other.