IRELAND'S ASIAN communities are falling victim to vile racist abuse in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
That's according to several sources who spoke to the Irish Independent about what they view as a "surge of racism" in the wake of the lethal virus's outbreak last December.
Discrimination, misinformation and, worse still, racism have reportedly become commonplace for ethnic Asians living on the Emerald Isle.
Chinese/Korean artist Jin Yong, who has lived in Ireland for 18 years, told the newspaper he had never seen "never seen such high levels of intolerance and abuse towards the Chinese community."
According to Mr Yong, several weeks ago one young woman in Dublin was punched and spat at by a group of girls shouting "you brought the virus here."
In another instance he cites a story about a friend of his who was hounded by a random group of people chanting "virus, virus" at her.
Mr Yong also expressed dismay at the misinformation being spread on social media.
"There's an image that's being constantly shared of two Asian people eating a bat," he told The Irish Independent.
"The post implies that Chinese are responsible for the outbreak of coronavirus because they always eat bats.
"But in reality, these two people are Indonesian … I grew up in China and never even heard that there were people who eat bats."
He added: "I've been told on Facebook my family who live in China deserve to die, but I know that's the price to pay when you speak out publicly."
To date, 65 people in Ireland have been tested for coronavirus.
All of the tests have come back negative.
The full report, including testimony from other people within Ireland's Asian community, can be read here.
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