A Muslim family in South Auckland is in shock after someone apparently scattered a bucket full of muck around the side and back yard of their home.
A video posted briefly on Instagram shows an empty bucket and what appears to be wet dirt that might have been washed out of roof guttering and has been scattered on the family's driveway, garden and back yard.
Nora Rahimi, a 19-year-old AUT student who lives at the house with her family, said her mother found the bucket and dirt after leaving the house for an hour from about 1pm on Monday March 18, three days after the Christchurch mosque attacks.
She said the family now felt unsafe after what they believed was a "hate crime".
"This bucket did not exist in my home beforehand," she said in an anguished commentary on the video.
"Someone has brought whatever this is, soil, manure, whatever it is, the rain has washed it off our cars but they have spilt it over our cars, they have spilt it over our land. They have intruded inside of my back yard."
Nora Rahimi posted an anguished video (above) on Instagram after the attack. Photo / From video
She said the family asked their landlord whether he had sent someone to clear their guttering, but he hadn't.
The material was not scattered on any of the neighbouring properties, so the family believed that they had been targeted when no one was at home.
"So this person had known, whether they were watching until someone left the house, we don't know," Rahimi said.
"This bucket did not exist in my home beforehand," Nora Rahimi said on her Instagram video. Photo / From video
The family is Kurdish and came to New Zealand as refugees in 2003 because they were not safe in the parents' home countries of Iran and Iraq. Rahimi said she now felt unsafe in New Zealand too.
"It has unfortunately been happening to a lot of non-European people since the terrorist did what he did. He encouraged a lot of people to be open with their ideologies," she said.
"But I love the response from New Zealanders as a whole so I'm grateful that I'm here in New Zealand."
Muck scattered on the lawn left the family in shock. Photo / From video
Police Acting Senior Sergeant Jade Gardiner said police were called to the house at 2.18pm on March 18.
"Police officers attended and spoke with the informant, took photos of the scene and conducted a number of other enquires - a number of which are still ongoing," he said.
"We want to reassure people that Police take all crime, including crimes of prejudice, seriously. We want to encourage all members of our communities to be alert to, and report, all instances of crime. If you see something, please say something. We are here to help."
Muck was scattered on the lawn in what a South Auckland Muslim family believes was a "hate crime". Photo / From video
The incident is one of seven cases reported to a website set up after the mosque attacks, reportislamophobia.nz.
Another case dated March 20 in Hastings said: "After a game of tennis our boys went to congratulate the teams on their win and a Caucasian boy directly said you look like a Muslim and I want to shoot you."
In another post dated March 26 in Mt Eden, a woman reported that another woman abused her on a bus for wearing a hijab.
"She said I'm evil and rude and I should not be in NZ. She asked me to go back to from whatever I came," the post said.
"She was so loud and everyone was just staring at me not knowing what to do. She also mentioned just because people die in Christchurch why should everyone support all Muslims. She said I would even rob a bank."
In a post dated March 22 in Hamilton, a non-Muslim man who wore Muslim prayer costume to the local mosque "to show solidarity with my Muslim brothers" said someone stuck his hand in the shape of a pistol out of a passing car and shouted, "Piaow, piaow, piaow".
"I (a white New Zealander) had walked less than five minutes – just a few hundred metres – in the shoes of our Muslim community and had already been targeted for abuse," the man wrote.
Abdirizak Abdi still gets questioned at Auckland Airport when he returns from overseas, 25 years after he came to New Zealand as a refugee. Photo / Supplied
Hamilton Somali community leader Abdirizak Abdi said another case on the website was one he reported to a researcher after he was stopped at Auckland Airport on his return from a conference in Turkey four years ago and was asked to provide "contact details of the people I met, hotels I stayed, the nature of my trip".
Abdi, who came to New Zealand as a refugee 25 years ago, said he was still often targeted for questioning at the airport, most recently when he returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca last year.
"I don't think that's random. It's targeted," he said.
"I know that at the end of the day there's nothing they will uncover that is illegal or anything so I don't have any problem, but it's a nuisance knowing that you are being stopped for no reason other than being who you are - Muslim, Somali, that combination I suppose."
