Representatives of faith-based and interreligious organizations, police and experts gathered in Luton, United Kingdom on 29 November 2016 to discuss religious leaders’ role in preventing hate speech and hate crimes following the June 2016 UK referendum that approved the UK’s exit from the European union, or “Brexit”.

The first regional follow-up meeting of the “Fez Plan of Action on the Role of Religious Leaders in Preventing Incitement that Could Lead to Atrocity Crimes”, the meeting was a collaboration between the UN Office on the Prevention of Genocide, the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) and the British and Irish coalition of religious leaders formed following the September 2015 European regional meeting in Treviso, Italy.

Following the Brexit referendum, the incidence of hate speech and violence in the UK increased significantly. Luton was chosen as the follow-up meeting’s venue since the city is a successful example of religious leaders’ cooperation in managing potential hate crimes following Brexit.

At the meeting, 20 participants from the UK and Ireland were joined by the Luton police chief and members of the Luton police force. The religious leaders and members of faith-based and interfaith organizations met to develop specific strategies to counter the growing hate speech and xenophobic violence in the UK. They identified measures that religious leaders and faith-based organizations could take to prevent and respond to incitement to violence in their communities and began developing ways to address obstacles that can hinder rapid responses.

Participants shared the good practices and challenges they encountered in their work to counter hate speech and incitement to violence among religious and ethnic groups living in the UK. The participants prioritized the need to meet regularly to advance efforts to counter hate speech and violence.