NEW YORK: A year after the Sept. 11 attacks, reports of hate crimes against Muslims, Arabs and South Asians have dwindled. But to some advocacy groups, the backlash has merely taken on a different context: intimidation by immigration officials and law enforcement, and abuse of individual civil rights.

With the approaching anniversary of the attacks and the attendant extensive media coverage, watchdog groups say they fear an upsurge of violence similar to that of the weeks following Sept 11.

During that period, dozens of Sikhs, Arabs and South Asians across the country reported incidents of violence and verbal assaults. There were at least five fatal shootings of Middle Eastern or South Asian men, although authorities did not say the incidents were direct retaliation for the terrorist attacks, instead characterizing them as hate crimes.

As a backstop against backlash, several groups in the city are working to educate immigrants on civil rights issues and getting out the word to be cautious.

One is the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Workers at the Manhattan-based organization, which has logged approximately 400 Sept 11-related incidents against immigrants, said the backlash has moved from the streets to behind closed doors.

“Those incidents haven’t died down, and it’s been a year,” said staff attorney Sin Yen Ling. “We’ve continued to receive, on a weekly basis, either discrimination cases at the workplace, by landlords, and specifically, we’ve been getting detainee cases every week.”

Officials at the Department of Justice did not return a call seeking comment. The department has said that up to 1,100 immigrants have been held on immigration infractions since Sept 11, but has not provided details.

Monami Malik, director of Desi Rising Up and Moving, which advocates for low-income South Asians, has echoed criticism by civil rights advocates who say many of those detained by immigration officials or other law enforcement officers are held in secret without due process.

“We hear about raids once a week or once every two weeks,” Malik said. “Our priority is to give information to South Asians and Arab immigrant families, particularly the undocumented, to protect their families from unwanted racial profiling and raids in our community.”

The office of the Council of Pakistan Organization in Brooklyn is planning to remember the anniversary with a blood drive on Sept 11, said Jagajit Singh, the council’s director of programmes.

While Singh said he is cautiously optimistic the anniversary won’t bring new cases of violence, he’s working to educate Pakistanis and others about their rights when it comes to law enforcement visits. “I’m not worried,” he said. “But we must remain vigilant; we shouldn’t be relaxed.”

During a June forum with the New York Civil Liberties Union, about 100 people showed up, Singh said.

The forum addressed issues such as how immigrants respond if contacted or visited by law enforcement officers. For example, if an officer shows up to ask questions or do searches, immigrants can turn them away if a warrant is not produced, Singh said.

One avenue the council hopes to use to destroy mistrust and violence is baseball. The council has launched a tournament that puts Jewish and Muslim children on the field together, Singh said.

Organizers consider the programme a success in bridging the cultures, he said. The coach is a local police officer.

In addition, South Asians, Muslims, Arabs and Filipino immigrants are invited to hear attorneys and rights advocates outline how immigrants can respond to violence, detentions and other civil liberties issues.

“We would like to see them come together and have a dialogue and begin to collaborate,” said Saurav Sarkar, a community organizer for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. “We want to further that process and provide a space for that to happen.”

Malik, of DRUM, said she is concerned that civil rights are being stripped away under the umbrella justification of the government’s war on terrorism. That, she said, could lead to a climate where even violence and workplace discrimination are tolerated. “It’s something we’re worried about,” she said.

The defense fund is working on a report of Sept. 11-related violence and discrimination that it plans to release soon.—Dawn/LAT-WP News Service (c) Newsday