UCC lecturer fears for his safety after letter threat

Amanullah De Sondy also criticised political leaders for their 'silence' on racism after he received an abusive letter recently

Amanullah De Sondy, UCC's head of religions and a senior lecturer in contemporary Islam, has received death threats at his place of work on more than one occasion. Picture: Dan Linehan

A respected academic who has been the target of sustained and hate-filled online racist attacks and death threats, says he fears again for his physical safety after receiving a letter which urged him to “fuck off back to where you belong”.

Amanullah De Sondy, the head of religions and a senior lecturer in contemporary Islam at UCC, said the letter was the latest example of a hidden epidemic of racism in Ireland.

Born in Glasgow to Pakistani parents, Mr De Sondy, who became an Irish citizen last month, pleaded with Justice Minister Helen McEntee to fast-track new hate crime legislation.

He criticised political leaders for their “silence” on racism, and gardaí for their response to complaints about such incidents.

It follows his receipt of a handwritten letter to his university office in recent days, which told him to leave Ireland. It read: 

Outsiders like you want to dilute Irishness to the point where it is meaningless. You were not dropped here in chains. If you don’t like it you can fuck off back to where you belong and take 100,000 other invaders with you.

It was signed, ‘Disappearing Paddy’.

Mr De Sondy said such Irish racism "is exhausting and scary.” 

He confirmed to the Irish Examiner that he reported the letter to gardaí in Cork City, but was amazed when it was suggested to him by the Garda who dealt with his complaint that his “emotions might be running high” and that in a day or two, he might not want to pursue the matter.

A spokesman for An Garda Síochána said a member on duty has a duty to assess every complaint, and explain to the individual making the complaint the process they may be about to embark on.

Following that engagement and an initial assessment of the complaint, he said it is expected that a complaint is taken and then investigated, as happened in this case.

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Mr De Sondy said he has been inundated with messages from people all over Ireland who say they have also experienced similar racist incidents, and who have also received a similar response from gardaí.

“I am calling on gardaí to take these complaints seriously, and for the Garda authorities to deliver improved diversity and inclusion training. There needs to be better training to deal with racist incidents like this," he said.

I am conscious that I have a position of privilege and a platform to highlight this, but it’s clear that there are a lot of people suffering silently, people who are reporting this kind of stuff but not getting very far. Some are being gaslighted into thinking that they are the problem.

He pleaded with Justice Minister Helen McEntee to fast-track the introduction of proposed new hate crime legislation.

“It needs to come out, and the sooner the better. We might not be able to change the mind of a racist, but at least we can deter them, and deter individuals who think that it is ok to pen such a letter to someone at their place of work. It’s not good enough anymore to say we are not racist. We need to act,” he said.

In a statement, UCC said it is supporting Mr De Sondy and will work with the relevant authorities on this matter.

“UCC unequivocally condemns all forms of racism, and will support any student or staff member who is a victim of discrimination." it said.

UCC has also launched a Speak Out tool, which allows students and staff to anonymously report incidents including discrimination and hate crime, that they have either experienced or witnessed.

In 2019, Mr De Sondy received a chilling death threat in a voicemail at his place of work.

It prompted UCC into conducting a security review, which led to the introduction of enhanced security and safety measures in the area where he works.